


And You And I

by Niaxi



Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon), Kim Possible - Fandom
Genre: Conflict, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, Lesbian Sex, Martial Arts, POV Lesbian Character, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:48:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 66
Words: 387,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23734132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niaxi/pseuds/Niaxi
Summary: Two years after the Lorwardian invasion, Kim Possible is working as a fulltime hero; feeding off of the adrenaline that comes with each new mission. Unfortunately, her high-octane lifestyle has led to boredom and loneliness in her personal life. Meanwhile, Shego, still working for Dr Drakken, is finding life rather dull herself. When a chance social encounter brings the pair face to face, sparks, as well as fists, are liable to fly. KiGo
Relationships: Kim Possible/Shego
Comments: 620
Kudos: 540
Collections: Shego x Kim Possible





	1. Owner of a lonely heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys, welcome to And You And I; my first attempt at a KiGo story. Having recently watched Kim Possible, I became quite fascinated by the relationship between Kim and Shego and started pondering how much further it could have been taken had the show been made both today and for an older audience. After reading a few different ficts and mulling over some ideas, I decided to write one myself. While I initially intended this story to be a simple, albeit fairly lengthy one-shot, I got so engrossed in setting out a backstory for Kim, that it's probably going to span a few chapters now. So sit back, grab a naco or a chimirito, add a soda (don't forget to grande size your meal) and enjoy.
> 
> P.S: If you enjoy this story and are interested, the first part of my debut novel, Ensnared, is available to read here on the archive. The link is provided below. So, please feel free to check it out.
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/24587473/chapters/59386159

It all started in a bar. Not in an evil villain’s lair, or atop a high-speed train, or in any other sort of crazy death-defying situation you may care to think of. No, it all started in a common, everyday public bar. A nice, trendy, semi-upmarket establishment. The kind with chrome and black leather bar stools, comfortable booths along the walls and an assortment of well-spaced tables and chairs dotted around the centre of the room.

Kim Possible, hero, world saviour and much more sat on the padded stool at the end of the bar; elbows resting on its clean black surface. She would have preferred one of the booths, away from prying eyes, but was far too polite to hog one all by herself. Clad in loose-fitting blue jeans, a fitted green t-shirt and ankle-high brown suede boots with a three-inch heel, she gave off an air of someone desperately trying to blend into the décor. To avoid attention at all costs. In fact, that was exactly why she had chosen this particular location in which to drink and mope. A) The average patron had enough tact and perception to notice if you wanted to be left alone or not and B) none of her friends would be willing to pay the mark-up on the drinks; if they even got served at all.

 _The perks of being me_. It was a bittersweet voice that piped up inside Kim’s head, as she stared morosely at the dregs of a faint green liquid inside her glass. Picking it up, she downed the last of her apple sours and lemonade. She had done favours for so many people in her mid-teenage years that there existed an entire clutch of bars, clubs and restaurants that were willing to look the other way for her; and that was just in Middleton. Yeah, those olive-green eyes, pretty smile and fiery red hair opened doors and opportunities that your average underage college-age student could only dream of. Indeed, she had a sneaking suspicion that it was the only reason her friends still kept inviting her to go out with them. _I’ve not exactly been Miss fun and outgoing when I’ve been home of late_. She snorted at her own thought of, ‘ _at late’_. Try the past few months… at least.

Raising her head, Kim signalled the barman for another drink and delved into the pocket of her baggy jeans to fish out her purse so she could pay for it. While most of her usual haunts would happily give her free drinks without her even needing to turn on the charm, she always insisted on paying. They were already doing her a favour and risking trouble with the law by serving her in the first place, so she would not see them out of pocket too. She handed over the correct change to the man when he set the glass down in front of her. The night was still relatively young, even though she had made the decision to come out late. Thus, this was only her second drink. Giving it a quick swirl, Kim plucked the black stirrer from the glass and gently sucked the fizzy sweet and sour droplets from its length before neatly placing it down on the bar. She huffed when a few strands of her long red hair drooped down over her face. Even her own hair was choosing to mock her! Irately, she raised a hand and flicked it behind her ear.

How on earth had it come to this? Sitting alone in a bar on a Friday night, feeling sorry for herself, while her friends were probably only a few streets away and having a blast. Hell, Monique had even invited her to come with them the second she found out that her best girl was home. However, like most occasions recently, Kim had declined on the grounds of being stiff, sore and worn out from her latest string of missions. While sometimes true, tonight it had been a downright lie. She’d just had a shit week. Raising the glass in a mock toast to herself and all her crap, she took a sip and allowed the bubbles to fizzle out on her tongue; an apt metaphor for her own happiness after graduating high school. The beverage lit up both the sweet and sour centres of her taste buds before she swallowed.

Involuntarily, Kim’s mind travelled back to that time before the Lorwardian invasion. To a time when happy was a default state, not a collection of scattered moments that she grasped whenever she could and struggled in vain to hold on to. _Screw those alien motherfuckers for showing up and ruining the world… ruining my life._ A hollow laugh escaped from behind her lips. _The Lorwardians might have fucked up the world, but you fucked up your own life quite nicely all by yourself; those aliens simply served as the catalyst_. She took a long drink and willed the effects of the alcohol to hurry up. Drunk Kim had the advantage of being unable to point out the harsh truths about her life. Unfortunately, until such time… _Do you honestly think things would have worked out any differently had the earth not been brought to its knees?_

She sighed and took another drink. She’d been down this particular road many times before, knew all the stops and knew exactly where it ended. And stop number one was always the same place… Bueno Nacho. She’d been sitting there with Ron and Rufus, as they had done on countless occasions before. Only this particular instance would probably forever be etched into her memory. There, on that day before graduation, she had sat and knowingly or not, downright lied to her best friend come boyfriend; she’d told him that nothing would change after the big day. How wrong she had been.

In the wake of the overnight carnage that had been wrought by the invasion, people all over the world had been in dire need of aid and virtually every villain on the planet had been prepared to take advantage of the situation. Once their families had been made safe, thanks in no small part to Global Justice’s swift response to the crisis, she and Ron had dotted all over the world to help prevent it being taken over by a whole host of super villains and their various schemes. However, that had simply been an increase in their normal weekly activities. No, the real issue had arisen not as a result of alien invasion or nefarious plot to take over the world, but from something that would have occurred regardless; college acceptance.

After weeks of waiting, Ron had finally received an acceptance letter from Western Colorado University; the only institute to offer him a place. She, on the other hand, had her pick of the country’s top universities, plus many from overseas. Leaving her with an impossible choice to make. Go to Western Colorado with Ron and maintain the status quo, or go out on her own and try and manage a long-distance relationship. A look of contempt flashed across her face and she took another drink. _Anything is possible for a Possible, right?_ A snort of derision accompanied that thought. _Wrong_. She had put off on making the choice, on even devoting brain power to it and justified it to herself on the grounds that she was so busy with missions that she just did not have the time nor headspace to spare.

 _You know that wasn’t the only reason you deferred on making that particular decision… “Shut up!”_ Kim snapped internally. Although she knew full well that silencing her brain without the aid of alcohol or adrenaline was a futile endeavour. She quickly downed half of her remaining beverage, resigning herself to being dragged down memory lane. _Oh, come on! You know fine well how much you loved the continual high you road from doing missions back to back to back. How drab and dull life became when you spent more than a few days at home._ Kim ground her teeth. It was pointless trying to argue with herself while sober, as she was always right. She had, no scratch that, did enjoy the continual high that came with a constant stream of missions. Maybe she had been too scared to admit it at the time, always saying that it was only a hobby, but the reality was she loved her missions; loved saving the world. In the end, when deadline day for selecting her college had come around, she had made the unprecedented choice and let it pass her by. It had stunned everyone. Her parents, normally so laid back and unfazed by her actions, had been gobsmacked. It had led to one of the rare arguments between them. Long, drawn-out over days and reaching a new high for raised voices, yelling and slammed doors, it had boiled down to this: she’d had every academic door she could ever want opened in front of her, with the red carpet rolled out no less and she’d passed them by in favour of her hobby. Much like the straight-A student who fantasised about becoming a popstar and missed her college interview for an audition.

Monique too had been lost for words, eventually concluding that she had either taken one too many blows to the head, was under the influence of mind control or had just gone completely insane. Then there had been Ron, whose response had been, _“OH YEAH! My girlfriend KP, the fulltime superhero!”_ She’d received a nod of approval and a short burst of applause from Rufus too. At least someone had been happy for her and the major life choice she had made. A shame it wasn’t to last…

Absentmindedly, Kim swirled her drink as she allowed the next few stops on her memory trip to pass by without objection. After the initial atomic bomb drop of her decision and the resultant fallout, things had settled back down into a hectic schedule of missions and she had returned to enjoying life. Eventually, it came time for Ron to start University and with nothing tying her down, she had agreed to move in with him. However, unbeknownst to either of them at the time, a mating pair of elephants had moved into the small apartment with them and quickly started to rear their trunks.

The first had been one her parents had brought up on numerous occasions, which she had chosen to ignore; how was she going to support herself? She had little money of her own, bar the scant contents of her savings account and could not justify asking her parents to bankroll her lifestyle. And with the number missions she was taking on; a normal job of any variety had been out of the question. Ultimately, there had only been one solution. She’d been forced to start charging for her services. A dark irony, given how vehemently opposed she had been to doing so a few years prior. It had pained her to do it, but she could not live off of favours. Naturally, she had received a bit of backlash for doing so, but it had quickly settled down. In fact, while she had seen a drop in requests, the ones she did get still numbered more than she could fulfil and the paywall ensured that only the most dangerous and exciting made it onto the shortlist. Yeah, the Lorwardian invasion had been good for the hero business. Almost too good…

Kim sipped her drink, her eyes rising up to scan the multitude of coloured bottles that lined the shelves of the bar. She was still a relative novice when it came to alcohol and so had only sampled some of the more common spirits. And without someone to guide her, she would be shooting in the dark should she take the urge to try one of them… perhaps not yet. Returning her gaze to the apple sours and lemonade in her hand, her moping mind set off once more down the memory motorway and to the second of her and Ron’s breading pair of elephants; workloads.

With the increased demands of college when compared to high school, she had been forced to bar Ron from going with her on every mission. To her surprise, he had actually taken it quite well. In fact, she’d have gone as far to say that he had been relived. It seemed that a summer of continuous missions had quelled his appetite for hero work quite significantly. She could hardly have blamed him. Ron liked a lot of the normal things in life, such as videogames, comic books and Friday nights at Bueno Nacho. Whereas she liked the excitement, the thrill of not knowing what lurked around the next corner.

 _If they had been the only issues we had faced, maybe things would have been ok._ “Ha,” Kim laughed mirthlessly under her breath, _yeah right. You know fine well that those two elephants were always going to breed._ She downed the rest of her drink and quickly felt the light buzz that signalled she was just about to cross into the state of tipsy. A good thing too, as she was not sure whose side she was on anymore. It didn’t matter. The cold hard facts of the matter were that their elephants had fucked and produced two bastard offspring called ‘I’m the one making the money’ and ‘you’re never around’.

After it had become apparent that charging for her missions provided a not-insignificant amount of income, Ron had quit his job at Smarty Mart. While he had neglected to tell her about it beforehand, his justification of, _“doing it for my studies, KP,”_ had abated her irritation. _And which one of you was more foolish, him for doing it or you for swallowing that bullshit reason?_ Even now, Kim felt a slight flash of anger over the whole issue; directed mostly at herself. Ron had done exactly what he did best, acted on impulse and pooh-poohed any possible consequences. She couldn’t really blame him for being himself. However, on the other hand, she had utterly failed in her role to either convince him he had made a mistake or ensure that he actually did spend the extra time studying. And that was all because of baby elephant number two; she had never been around.

Mission after mission had come her way and so she had continued to jet around the world, visiting places such as Paris, Millan, Tokyo and many more besides, but each one alone. It had been exhilarating. A HALO jump onto a battleship in the middle of the Atlantic, zipping across the New York skyline using the new grapple system Wade had integrated into the latest incarnation of the battle suit and jumping across the grand canyon on a rocket-powered motorcycle, to name but a few. Meanwhile, Ron had spent his time goofing off. Video game marathons, D&D weekends, naco eating contests… the list went on. Her money bankrolling his fun, while his college grades slumped. Naturally, when she tactfully asked him if his college work was ok, he had assured her that he had everything under control. Given that she was never around long enough to properly say otherwise, she had foolishly believed him. It had all come to a head when she discovered the results to his first semester exams; Ron had flunked the bulk of his classes.

 _Lorwardian invasion or not, you know that outcome had been inevitable._ Kim let out a deflated sigh, as the offending strands of hair from earlier drooped over her face again. _Yeah, it probably was. Sooner or later, I’d have realised I wanted to do the hero thing fulltime, make a living out of it and Ron would have been Ron about it…_ She could hear the words her boyfriend had uttered as justification ring inside her head as though he had just uttered them from the seat beside her, _“where’s the problem, KP? I’m doing my thing; you’re doing your thing and everything else takes care of itself.”_ Had she been in the wrong for wanting him to pull his weight when it came to the household bills? It had been fine when she had believed that he had been studying but in the face of such damming exam results and his insistence that, _“it’s no biggie if I flunk out, KP. I’ve got you there to keep me stocked up on nacos,”_ it had been a step too far.

Kim felt her knuckles turn white as she gripped her empty glass with almost enough force to cause a fracture. Even now the memory of that moment still burned her. She had yelled at Ron that it was not ok for her to be out earning money while he dossed around, indulging his every whim at her expense. Which is when he brought out the, _“what do you care, you’re never around,”_ argument. And that had been it. They’d argued like they had never argued before. What had been said changed slightly every time she recalled the incident, but it mattered not; the end result was always the same. She’d gone to her room, shoved some clothes, her battle suit, gadgets and pandaroo into a bag, picked up her purse, Kimunicator and car keys and left.

“Do you want another drink?”

The question cut through Kim’s thought process like one of Shego’s plasma infused hands through metal and she jumped slightly. Lifting her gaze up from the bottom of her empty glass, she made eye contact with the barman. “Please and thank you,” she replied, relaxing her vice-like grip on the glass and allowing him to take it away.

“Same again?”

Kim nodded and delved into her pocket to get the money to pay him. Exchanging coins for cocktail, she stirred it quickly before taking a drink. The taste of sweet and sour on her tongue helped act as a balm for her jagged mood and slowly she felt her anger dissipate. _Yeah, fair enough, breaking up with Ron was probably an inevitability, alien invasion or not. On the plus side, it at least gave you the chance to patch things up with mom and dad._ That certainly was true. She had arrived on the doorstep of her parents rebuilt home at one o’clock in the morning; puffy-eyed and red-cheeked. Her mom had swiftly ushered her inside, pulled her into a hug, then shepherded her into the kitchen for a hot cup of tea. She’d then proceeded to tell her mom everything that had happened between herself and Ron. A hot shower had followed before she settled down amidst fresh sheets in a rather surreal rebuild of her old attic bedroom.

Bar her brothers and their usual tweebish antics, her stay with her parents had proved to be rather restful. After they had learned just how lucrative her missions had become, both her mom and dad had eased off on the whole ‘you’re wasting your life’ spiel; now safe and content in the knowledge that their daughter had a strong financial future while also doing something that she loved. She had stayed for a few weeks before finding a place of her own. A thin smile tugged at the corner of Kim’s lips when she thought about home. With the amount she was making each month, she had been able to afford a modern penthouse apartment that had spacious rooms and killer views of the mountains. She loved that apartment. In fact, she was pondering buying it outright from the owner once she had accumulated the funds; a mortgage was unfeasible due to her income source being considered non-quantifiable.

Unfortunately, despite her love for her apartment, she’d grown to hate being stuck at home for any length of time. For instance, a few months ago, she had badly bruised her lower back after an explosion blew her out a building window and she’d landed awkwardly. Once the adrenaline had ebbed upon completion of the mission, she had been in agony and struggled to walk or bend. She’d been forced to see a doctor by her mom and been told that she was out of commission for two weeks. Day one had passed by with her mostly in pain and day two had seen her content to sit on the sofa and watch TV. But come the end of day three, she had been bored stiff and by day four, she had figuratively been clawing at the walls to get back out on a mission. Against medical advice, she’d gone back into the field after only one week.

Reaching a hand around, Kim absentmindedly rubbed her lower back as the memory of the pain surfaced in her mind. It was not the worst injury she had ever suffered on a mission, simply the most recent one to force her out of action. The latest member of a rather exclusive club. She paused for a moment when the thought of what someone might think if they were to see her naked floated through her mind; a mussing that had a tendency to gnaw at her while she was moping. Narcissistic as it may be, she considered herself quite good looking on the surface, however, underneath was a different story. Her clothing hiding a multitude of scars collected from her years of hero work. Kim’s eyes glanced around the room at the other patrons. _How many of these people would be able to see past my marred skin if I were to bear all to them?_ Kim grunted and took a long drink, trying to force the thought from her mind. Unfortunately, her brain managed to serve up a rather sobering parting shot on the subject, setting her attempts at becoming inebriated back a few steps. _My body is an ugly tapestry of scars. Each one a damming testament to a time I wasn’t fast enough or just plain screwed up._

This was achieving nothing bar filling her bladder, Kim realised as the contents of glass three slowly drained. _I need some sort of high to lift my mood and alcohol just isn’t cutting it tonight._ Maybe she could go home, slip on her battle suit and grapple around some of the taller buildings. Or use her jetpack to soar through the sky, cut the engine and then freefall back to earth; pulling the chute at the last possible moment. Yeah, that should lift her mood... Wait, no, scratch that, she had a better idea. How about… Kim never managed to finish formulating the plan, as from behind her, a voice called out to her and she instantaneously froze.

“Hey there, Princess, how’z it hanging?”


	2. Born to be wild

**BOOM!** The entire evil lair of Dr Drakken, supervillain extraordinaire, shook as the sound of the latest explosion echoed through the complex. From inside the base’s locker room, Shego did not even bother to turn her head in the direction from which it had come, let alone run to see what had happened this time. If she were to bother herself with each and every explosion that went off inside the lair, she’d never get anything done.

From out in the main chamber she heard Drakken yelp, “SHEGO!” his voice making him sound like a little girl?

A thin smile played on the raven-haired woman’s lips. _That’ll be operation ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray pushed back another week._ She sniggered to herself as a second explosion sounded, this one bigger than the first. _Make that two weeks._

“AHHH, SHEGO!!”

Picking up her motorcycle helmet, a black affair with green flames, she sauntered out of the locker room. It was already over an hour past quitting time and no matter what Drakken said, she was going home. After all, it was Friday night and she had a date with some much-needed alcohol. Especially after the week she’d had. With Kimmie indisposed in Germany; dealing with Professor Dementor, she’d been running around stealing things left right and centre for Drakken’s latest plan to take over the world. And if the explosions were anything to go by, she’d have to do it all again next week. Crossing the main chamber, headed towards the hanger, her piercing emerald gaze met with a frazzled Drakken and much to her surprise, a still intact ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray. She frowned. If it was still intact, then what had exploded?

“Shego, where on earth were you!” Drakken yelled irately on catching sight of her. He pointed a finger towards his latest contraption. “Operation ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray just blew up the coffee maker and the refrigerator!”

In vain, Shego tried to maintain a straight face as her gaze took in the sight of the exploded coffee maker and refrigerator, but quickly caved and burst out laughing. “Wait a minute, let me get this straight, you yelped like a little girl because your latest death-ray blew up the coffee maker!” She threw her head back and let out a howl of laughter as Drakken’s blue face turned red, steam rising from the top of his head.

“I COULD HAVE BEEN VERY BADLY SCALDED IF ANY OF THAT COFFEE HAD HIT ME!”

On noticing a sharp increase of red light from behind the supervillain, Shego’s eyes drifted up to the latest incarnation of the death-ray. It seemed her boss had forgotten to turn it off. “If I were you, Dr D, I’d be more worried about the microwave.”

Drakken looked at her in confusion. “The microwave? What’s wrong with the microwave?”

“Project ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray is about to blow it up,” she replied off-handily.

“What?”

An amused smile danced on Shego’s lips as she watched him turn around and yell, “AHH!” Next second there was a bright flash of red light and the microwave exploded.

Drakken ran into the kitchenette and fell to his knees. “Why?” he cried out, cradling two fragments of the very dead appliance in his arms. “She made the best microwaveable burritos.” He turned to glare up at his death-ray and shook his fist. “Have you no heart!”

“Obviously not,” Shego said sarcastically. “You decided to never use living tissue in your death-rays again after operation organic-death-ray left blood and guts all over the walls when it exploded, remember?”

Drakken shuddered, causing her to snigger. He always was squeamish when it came to blood. “Besides, there’s little point crying over a broken microwave, you’ve got bigger problems to worry about.”

The villain got to his feet and rounded on her. “Little point crying over a broken microwave!” he yelled. “That microwave was the…” he stopped abruptly, clearly having noticed the look of contempt on her face. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Shego rolled her eyes. “Because project ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray is about to claim its next victim.”

“Say what?”

“You, you moron. You’re standing in its line of sight and it’s about to go off again!”

Drakken turned, his eyes widening at the sight of the death-ray powering up. He let out a comical yelp as he dived towards her. A heartbeat later and the death-ray blew a hole in the floor where he had been stood.

When the dust settled, Shego looked down to see her boss clutching at her leg. “Get off,” she said curtly as she shook her leg free. Not bothering to help the gibbering man to his feet, she strode over to the weapons control panel and turned it off. She then glared at Drakken. “Next time, don’t set it to AUTO-FIRE! In fact, next time, don’t build it with an auto-fire function!”

“Why must you always try to curtail my creativity?” the villain replied as he picked himself up off the floor.

“Because your creativity blows up more appliances, furniture, henchmen and lairs than we can afford to replace. Now, if you’re done almost getting yourself killed, I’m going home.”

“But what about operation ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray?”

Shego groaned at the thought of having to utter the absolutely ridiculous name of his latest plan again. So, instead, she simply said, “your latest toy can spend the weekend cooling off,” while jabbing a pointed finger at the device’s temperature warning gauge; the needle having crept into the red zone. “Besides, it’s an hour past quitting time.”

“What?” Drakken explained as he glanced at his watch, “it’s only 5 pm. You're still on the clock for another hour!”

“Urgh,” Shego groaned and pointed to the wall clock, “it’s 7 pm; an hour past quitting time. I told you to put a new battery in that watch weeks ago.”

Drakken looked contemplative for a moment, before retorting, “how do I know that you haven’t fiddled with that clock?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. _For someone so intelligent, he isn’t half stupid sometimes._ “Because all the other clocks say 7 pm!” She pointed at the TV, DVD player, stereo and oven; all in agreement with the wall clock.

Drakken opened his mouth to argue, so she gave him a death glare, daring him to suggest that she’d fiddled with every single clock in the lair. He closed it again, waited a moment, then said, “alright, fine. Go home! I’ll stay here and work on project ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray myself.”

“Do what you want,” she said slyly as she turned to head towards the hanger, “it’s your **Friday** night, after all.”

Shego laughed to herself when she heard Drakken pause for thought, say, “wait a minute… Friday night… 7 pm…” then explode in a burst of frantic movement. “I’m late for karaoke night! Shego, why didn’t you remind me!”

“See you Monday, Dr D,” she said with a chuckle and exited through a pair of reinforced steel doors. _He never learns._

Leaving a scurrying Drakken behind her, Shego navigated her way through the series of tunnels that led to the hanger bay. Passing through another set of thick doors, she walked past various hovercrafts until she reached a titanium metal cube, surrounded by a fuzzy green glow. Beside it stood a slender waist-high control console, with a fist-sized receptacle on the panel. Inserting her hand, Shego ignited her glow and waited for a few seconds. A light on the console flashed green, causing the forcefield to deactivate and the metal cube to retract into the floor, revealing her pride and joy; a modified Honda Blackbird with a custom green and black paint job. A smile formed on her lips, _hello, beautiful._

It might have come across as odd, bonkers even, to anyone else that, in a hanger full of various vehicles that mad science had created, a simple motorbike had the most robust and high-tech security, but to Shego, it was everything. That bike had been the first thing she had stollen after becoming a villain and had been with her ever since. And after several near misses, including having to physically dig it out of the rubble of one of Drakken’s previous lairs, she had gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure its safety. The forcefield and titanium cube had their own built-in power supply, could only be deactivated by an emission spectrum unique to her glow and if the control panel was destroyed, the field could only be cut through by her plasma. Not only that, but the cube had been fitted with rocket boosters, just in case the lair was destroyed and she needed to excavate it again.

Pulling on her helmet, Shego hopped onboard the Blackbird and fired the motor into life. Revving it a few times, she kicked up the stand and guided it towards the elevator. Entering the metal box, she hit the button for the surface and drummed her fingers on the gas tank as she waited for it to rise. When the roof eventually opened out onto a warm Colorado evening, she wasted no time in engaging the clutch, selecting first gear and zooming off down the dirt track towards the highway.

##

It was always a feeling of pure exhilaration for Shego, anytime she rocketed down a long stretch of asphalt. With the aid of mad science, the Blackbird had been modified so that it could now top 300MPH and counting. Making her nothing more than a black and green blur to any observer who happened to catch sight of her. The only problem being that the journey home lasted just over ten minutes; nowhere near enough time for her to properly enjoy herself.

Slowing the bike down to a crawl, Shego turned off of the highway and headed along a narrow road surrounded by thick trees. It was the sort of road that, if you did not already know where to find it, you would probably miss it. Snaking her way through the forest, she eventually entered a large clearing, where a modern, two-story wood and glass house stood. _Home, home again. I like to be here when I can._ She laughed internally as the lyric fluttered through her mind. It certainly was apt. Bringing the bike to a stop, she hopped off and kicked down the stand. Since she had every intention of going back out, there was no point in putting it inside the garage.

Climbing up the front steps to the main door, Shego inserted her fist into a similar receptacle to the one back in the lair and waited for the light to turn green before going inside. Being a master thief, she had expert knowledge of security systems and so ensured her home was well protected. Even Global Justice would be hard-pressed to get inside and live long enough to get back out, should they ever manage to find it. Removing her helmet, she set it down beside the door; along with her keys and headed upstairs.

The master bedroom was a spacious room, decorated in light, warm colours and had a great view of the surrounding forest and the small lake situated towards the rear of the property. Despite what people might think, not everything in her life was decked out in her iconic green and black colour pallet. No, she’d done the whole black bedroom in her teenage years and thankfully grown out of that particular phase. Picking up a remote, she hit play and waited a few seconds for the stereo to burst into life. _Hmm, Steppenwolf, I can dig that._ Absentmindedly, her head began to rock away to the tune as she turned the volume up and headed for the en-suite bathroom.

Like the bedroom, it too had oodles of space and contained all the usual amenities plus a jacuzzi big enough for two. Not that she had ever shared it with anyone. A villainous lifestyle did not lend itself well to relationships and even when she had dated someone, they had never merited an invite to her home, much less into her bath. She eyed it up, half tempted to go for a long soak. After the week she’d had, she certainly deserved some relaxation time. _Hmm, maybe tomorrow. Tonight, I’m going out to get hammered._

Stripping out of her catsuit, Shego turned on the shower and hopped in. Hot water cascaded down over her head and she immediately felt some of the tension in her muscles ebb. _I swear, if Drakken blows up that damn death-ray and I have to go and steal all the component parts again, I’ll build the damn thing myself and shoot him with it._ The combination of hard rock and hot water quickly drove thoughts of Drakken and death-rays from her mind and she quickly relaxed. Running her hands through her long raven hair, Shego casually set about the task of washing. By the time she had finished, a thick cloud of water vapour, laced with the smell of mint and tea-tree filled the air. Wrapping her hair up in one towel, she picked up another and stepped out into the bedroom, closing the door behind her so the extractor fan could do its job.

Casually, she began to dry herself, using the towel to rid herself of the standing water droplets that still clung to her skin and her glow to do the rest. In reality, she had no real need for a towel as her glow could do the whole job by itself. But there was just something so satisfying about feeling the semi-coarse fibres rubbing against her skin that could not be replicated. Discarding both towels, Shego ran her glowing hands through her hair to finish the job and then headed into her walk-in wardrobe. Thumbing through the clothes on the rack, she selected a pair of black leather trousers and a slashed black halter top with the words, ‘wild girl’, written across the front. She also picked out a pair of heeled black knee-high boots and some emerald green and black underwear. Quickly dressing, she looked herself up and down in the full-length mirror. _Hmm, almost nailed the look in one, just need to add..._ she grabbed a short green leather jacket off the rack and slipped it on, _perfect. If the mood takes me, this outfit will so get me laid tonight._

Shego pondered that thought as she turned off the stereo and headed downstairs. When it came to dating, she had a simple rule of thumb: guys were for manipulating and toying with until she’d gotten what she wanted and girls were for sex. Call it feminism gone mad, but the idea of someone fucking her made her skin crawl. She needed to be the dominant one in the bedroom… needed to remain in control. She took what she wanted from people, not the other way around. Picking up her helmet and keys, she left the house, walked down to the waiting Blackbird and left for a night on the town.

##

The sun had almost set by the time Shego guided her motorbike into a parking lot. Cutting the engine, she climbed off and stored her helmet under the seat before activating the invisible forcefield. Invisible for two reasons: 1) a visible forcefield screamed property of a supervillain/hero and thus drew unwanted attention towards it and 2) she liked the idea that any idiot stupid enough to try and touch it would be in for an unexpected and rather nasty shock. The heels of her tall boots clicked on the smooth tarmac as she sauntered out to join the modest throng of people all out for a good time. Even with the green tinge to her skin, the vast majority of people paid her little attention and even the ones that did were far more interested in her other assets. To all, she was just another person out for the evening. No one even remotely associating her with the supervillain Shego.

It was a widely believed misconception that supervillains, much like school teachers, had no social life whatsoever. That they spent every minute of every day cooped up inside their lairs, working on their latest plot or scheme. Only coming out when it was time to terrorise the world once more. Even Drakken, with his blue skin and scars, could probably walk through a crowd on a night like tonight and be thought of as little more than a weird cosplayer; so long as he wore normal clothes. For that was the key. If you looked like a normal person, most people assumed you were. A thin smile crossed her lips. In her case, all she’d need to do would be to ignite her plasma, maybe toss a blast and blow something up and everyone would immediately recognise her and run. Except she had absolutely no intention of doing that. Like everyone else around her, she was just out for a good time.

Crossing the road, Shego surveyed her choices for the evening. Since she had no desire to mingle with rowdy, drunken students, she’d come to the slightly more upmarket side of the nightlife district. Here, people tended to be more restrained and less stupid. The last thing she wanted was for some big, muscular doofus to start hitting on her, refuse to take the hint to get lost and proceed to fray her last nerve to the point that she blasted him through a wall. That really would put a downer on the evening. Not to mention sober her up. That was one of the annoying things about her glow. If she activated it and getting angry tended to do just that, her superhuman constitution kicked in, saw the alcohol in her bloodstream as a toxin and promptly burnt it off. _No, no getting hit on by jerks tonight, no getting angry and blasting people into next week and no losing her buzz because she’d lost her temper._

After a few moments of contemplation, Shego finally made her choice and headed towards a place called Spritzers. Not only did it fit the bill in terms of the clientele base, but they also did a slew of good cocktails and served some decent food too. Her stomach rumbled at the thought of food; she hadn’t eaten since lunchtime. _One large meal and a few cocktails coming right up. That ought to get the night off to a good start. Then I can see about some harder liquor._ Opening the front door, she stepped inside.

A soft hue of light blue and white light bathed over Shego as she entered the premises. For half-past eight, it was still fairly quiet and a quick scan of the room told her that she would get a booth along either wall without any problem. Walking towards the bar, she gave each patron a cursory glance over. Even on a purely social occasion, she couldn’t help but gauge the threat level of a room. Should, for whatever reason a fight break out, this lot wouldn’t cause her much trouble… Shego stopped dead in both her tracks and train of thought, as her gaze fell upon a head of thick fiery-red hair sitting at the end of the bar. _Surely that isn’t…_ she did a double-take as she edged forwards and watched the woman take a drink from her glass, _holy shit, it is. It’s Kimmie!_ She paused for a moment. _Great, now what do I do?_ She was about to turn around and leave when something or rather a lack of something caught her eye. The space around the heroine was completely empty. No moronic sidekick come boyfriend or other friends were clustered beside her and all the other bar seats lacked either drinks or coats to indicate they were taken.

The corners of Shego’s lips curled upwards and she let out an evil chuckle to herself. _It’s Friday night and Kimmie’s sitting in a bar and drinking by herself._ Her hand immediately went to her pocket for her phone. She was going to take a photo and post it on villain.net with the caption, ‘Little Kimmie’s lonely hearts club bar’. She’d win the monthly picture prize for sure. Hell, it was almost as good as the snaps that had hit the press earlier in the week of the girl covered in shit, after she’d been forced to trudge through a sewage pipe to escape a building Professor Dementor had blown up. As it had happened in Germany, headlines such as, ‘Possible stars in her own Schizer film’, had made the front page of several of the tabloids. Shego’s hand hovered over her pocket for a moment but did not procure her phone. Having been on both sides of the hero business, she too had suffered her fair share of front-page humiliations. Just another thing they happened to have in common. And even with thick skin, the press still had a bad habit of getting to you. She’d give her rival a by on this and this alone.

 _You owe me Possible._ However, that did not mean to say that she was going to let the girl off the hook completely. She’d been sat hunched over a bar by herself too many times to know that Kimmie was moping about something. Which meant her rival was ripe for teasing and would provide her with some much-needed entertainment. In fact, if she prodded enough, she might be able to goad Kimmie into a fight. _Hello, here to have a good time and get drunk, remember?_ She snorted, _doy. Fighting princess **is** having a good time. In fact, a good scrap with her is better than booze any day. _

Images from her recent fights with Kimmie floated through her mind, bringing with them a slight jolt of adrenaline. They’d been far too few of late for her liking. Because of all the new villains that had sprouted up as a result of the Lorwardian invasion, component parts for super-weapons and henchmen were at an all-time premium. And since Drakken typically had limited cash, she was now having to steel even the simplest of parts by herself, resulting in a delay to all take over the world plots and thus her chances to fight Kimmie. Indeed, the influx of other villains also meant that her thefts were going virtually unchallenged. The princess rarely showing up before the last minute.

Shego smiled to herself. _Well, not tonight. Tonight, I’ve got you all to myself pumpkin._ Crossing the distance between them, she stood behind the red-haired woman and said in an amused tone, “hey there, Princess, how’z it hanging?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so again it seems that my creativity got a bit carried away with itself, hence why this chapter ends at the exact same point as the previous one. Although I have to admit, writing the scene between Drakken and Shego was so much fun that I might have to squeeze another one in somewhere. Anyway, I’ll see you all for the next chapter, where we will actually get some KiGo goodness when Kim and Shego finally interact, promise.


	3. Set the fire to the first bar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, I'm adding this note way after posting this chapter, as one of my readers; Celioxa, has done a fantastic drawing of Shego wearing the outfit she has on in this chapter, along with several other drawings of both Kim and Shego. So, please do check out either her Twitter or Instagram pages and if you like her work, please leave her a like or a comment or follow her.
> 
> https://twitter.com/celioxa
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/celioxa_art/

_“Hey there, Princess, how’z it hanging?”_

The words rang in Kim’s ears and for a split second, she froze. _Shego! What the hell is she doing here?_ In a heartbeat, she came to the conclusion that it did not matter. The raven-haired woman could only be here to cause trouble, most likely for her. In one fluid motion, she spun around atop her stool, bringing her left leg around in a wide crescent kick. The blow hit nothing but air, Shego having positioned herself out of range, but it was not a wasted effort as she used the momentum to spring herself up off the stool and into a walking stance; her guard rising.

At best, the buzz she got from alcohol could get her up to a four on the thrill scale. On the very best of days, an orgasm would get her to a five. A cruise through the streets on her rocket skates with some jumps thrown in, a six. A jetpack ride, that was a seven. Skydiving, eight. Only the most dangerous, death-defying feats could ever get her up to the mystical levels of cloud nine. Yet, Shego, with only a single phrase had rocketed her straight up to a ten. Her eyes locked onto the emerald greens of her rival and immediately she felt adrenaline coursing through her. Kim smiled internally as she said, “if you’ve come for the hard stuff, I’ve got it right here.” 

A smirk formed on Shego’s lips. _Wow, all it took was one line and Kimmie’s already on her feet and spoiling for a fight._ It took a great effort for her to suppress her glow and keep herself from launching into battle and even more to stop a snarky comment spilling forth. _Come on, what are you waiting for, let's get her! Hold on a minute, Hot Shot. Princess is here all alone and seems desperate for a fight to boot. Won’t it be far more fun to prod her about it first, maybe get some answers and then kick the crap out of her?_ Shego chose to follow this line of thought and casually stepped past Kimmie and towards the bar. “Did no one ever teach you that you have to buy a lady a drink before you get to ask them for a dance, Pumpkin?”

Kim’s eyes widened as they followed Shego’s steps, the woman’s apparent dismissal of her leaving her momentarily stunned. _What the hell! Why isn’t she even looking at me? There are so many holes in her defence that I could knock her out in at least ten different ways!_ Her mouth then fell open on hearing her rival’s words. _She wants me to what??_ Kim then watched in horror as Shego lifted her glass up off the bar and gave it a quick sniff. _Shit, now she knows I’ve been drinking._

A single whiff of little Miss Priss’ beverage told Shego immediately that it was an apple sours and lemonade. While a relatively weak drink, especially when compared with what she herself liked, the fact the heroine was drinking alcohol at all came as somewhat of a surprise. “Oh, Kimmie, what would your parents think?” _And what other trouble have you been getting yourself into when I’ve not been around to babysit?_

Kim’s face turned bright red and she quickly snatched the glass back from Shego. And while she had lowered her physical guard, she did not return to her stool. _Of all the people to catch me drinking, why on earth did it have to be her?_ “Like you didn’t drink underage,” she fired back. It was a weak retort but the best she could come up with.

The corners of Shego’s lips turned upward. “I did and look how I turned out.” _Stunningly beautiful if I do say so myself._ “Keep carrying on like this, Princess, and in a month or two you’ll be shoplifting. By the end of the year, we might even have you jacking a car. And, if you’re very good, I’ll take you on your first bank heist next year. Once you turn twenty-one, of course.”

Kim’s embarrassment increased with each and every word her adversary spoke. _The one time she chooses not to fight straight off the bat and she effectively catches me with my pants down. Ok, Kim, take a deep breath and calm yourself down. You can handle this. Anything’s possible for a Possible._ Following her own advice, she took in a long breath through her nose, desperately trying not to telegraph what she was doing to Shego. “Not if I get you out saving the world with me first,” she retorted. _Good, that’s better._ “Oh, wait, you already did that.”

Shego felt one of her fists involuntarily clench at being reminded of the fact that she and Drakken had actually saved the world. _Damn Kimmie for bringing that up. What next, my time as part of Team Go?_ She forced her fingers to relax as she replied, “saved it so we could conquer it ourselves, Cupcake.” Briefly, she turned her gaze away from Kimmie to signal the barman.

It had been subtle, but Kim did not fail to notice Shego’s clenched fist and a grin quickly spread across her face. _Time to go on the offensive._ “When you and Drakken get around to doing that, be sure to let me know. If I’m not to busy dealing with one of the worlds more competent villains, I’ll be sure to pop by.”

A surge of irritation coursed through Shego at Kimmie’s all to apt comment. Dr Drakken held the rather unwanted record for the number of times a villain had failed to take over the world. And she had been party to oh so many of them. Unfortunately, her rival had still failed to realise that she had absolutely no desire to actually take over the world. In fact, like virtually every other hero and villain on the planet, Kimmie was still blissfully ignorant of why any of them actually did it in the first place. _Maybe it’s time she learned that little secret. After all, we’re in a bar and talking no less._ She sighed internally. _Yeah, gonna need some serious booze if I’m going to have **the** talk with her. Urgh, isn’t this supposed to be the sort of thing her mom teaches her? _

As if on cue, the barman walked over and asked, “what can I get you?”

Shego turned to look at Kimmie. “Since you don’t seem like you’re going to buy me that drink, let me get you one. And since you don’t have any issues with flaunting the law, let’s make it a proper one.”

Kim opened her mouth to decline, but did not even have time to formulate the words _“no thanks,”_ when she Shego placed an order.

“Two vodka martinis, shaken not stirred. And make sure to use the best vodka you have.”

Kim groaned when it registered with her just what exactly her rival had ordered for them. Ron had made her sit through enough James Bond movies that she recognised the cinema spy’s beverage of choice. _It’s ok, I don’t have to drink it… but I do. Even if I decline, Shego will just plonk it down in front of me like it was gauntlet off her wrist and dare me to refuse the challenge._ Frantically, Kim searched for a way out of the situation that would not constitute her forfeiting the round. _Damn, she’s got me cornered._ There was only one option; the path of least resistance.

The barman sat the two glasses down atop the bar and Shego handed him the money for them. A wicked smile formed on her face as she slid one along to Kimmie. “Vodka martini seems like the perfect drink for a semi-spy come world saviour.” She drank in the look of worried indecision on the heroine’s face. _Get out of this one, Princess._ Much to her surprise and slight annoyance, her rival picked up the glass.

“Drink of the world saviour, I guess that’s why you ordered one for yourself then?” Kim replied, the inspiration for the comeback having struck her like a bolt of lightning from Shego’s own words. While she still had to actually drink the beverage, she knew her comment would have seriously soured her opponent’s victory.

 _Damnit, Kimmie, enough with the whole world saviour thing already!_ She chose not to rise to the bait a second time and instead took a sip of her drink, her emerald eyes meeting with the girl’s olive-greens and conveying the fact that she had to do the same or concede the point.

Kim matched Shego’s stare with one of her own as she raised the martini glass and took a sip. _Jesus Christ this thing’s strong!_ Desperately she tried not to cough when she swallowed. “What the hell is in that!” she spluttered, drawing a smile from the raven-haired woman.

“Three parts vodka to one part dry vermouth and,” Shego took another small sip of her drink, rolled it around her tongue, then finished, “yep, the bartender here adds a dash or two of bitters.” _And it’s just about blown your little head off, Pumpkin._ In fairness, she had been exceptionally mean in asking the bartender to use the best vodka he had, as it had probably upped the alcohol content by about ten to fifteen percent. But since when did she play fair? “However, if it’s too much for you, I’ll give it a good home and you can get another apple sours and lemonade.”

Defiantly, Kim took another sip of the cocktail. This time she was prepared for the onslaught and managed to swallow without showing any outward sign of discomfort. However, internally, her thought process went something like, _dammit girl what part of, ‘Jesus Christ this thing is strong!’ didn’t you understand. Admit defeat, count your losses and move on. She’s got you beat on this one... Hell, no! There’s no way I’m giving Shego such an easy win. I can handle one drink._

Electing to use the brief silence to further increase the pressure on Kimmie, Shego set her glass down on the bar, took off her jacket, draped it over the back of the bar stool and sat down. _There you are, Princess. I’ve made my intention to stay and sit beside you crystal clear. Now either see my bet or get off the pot and run home to mommy._

Kim’s brain kicked into overdrive as she quickly tried to analyse the situation. _Ok, so Shego has seated herself at the bar beside me. Crap, what am I going to do? She’s got me right where she wants me. If I leave now, not only am I admitting defeat over a stupid drink, but I’ll lose the opportunity to fight her later. But if I sit down, all she needs to do is keep buying me drinks until either I fold or she has me on the floor. Either way, I lose!_

“Are you going to sit down and drink with me, Cupcake, or is it already past your bedtime?” Shego prodded, taking a sweet sip from her own glass. _Damn this feels good and we’re not even fighting. Oh go on, Princess, make my night and sit down. And if you’ve got the balls to buy me a drink, I’ll definitely dance with you._

Kim felt her knuckles turn white as for the second time that night she gripped a glass to the point it almost fractured. _Damn you, Shego!_ Frantically she wracked her brain for options. _Ok, let’s think about this like it were a mission. She’s got a weapon, in this case alcohol, that makes her far more powerful than me if I attack her head-on. So, what would I normally do?_ The solution came to her quickly. _I’d find a way to disarm her so that we’re back on a level playing field. But how do I disarm her of something so abstract as the ability to easily drink me under the table?_

Turning around to look at Kimmie, Shego plucked the stick of three skewered olives from her glass. “Tick-tock, Princess. Maybe if you go home now, mommy will let you play an easier game before she tucks you in for the night.” Deliberately showing her teeth, she plucked the first olive from the cocktail stick and ate it; returning the others to the glass.

Her adversary’s mocking words cut through Kim’s thought process and she smiled. Unwittingly, Shego had just given her the answer. Setting her glass on the bar, she sat back down atop the stool and gave the raven-haired woman a sweet smile. _Bring it on, I’m ready for you now._ “Mom will have her hands full with the Tweebs, so I guess you’re stuck with me.”

Shego had to suppress a stupid grin from forming on her lips. _Oh, Princess, you are in for a world of hurt come tomorrow morning._ “Then let’s finish these and get started. We’ve got a whole alphabet of cocktails to get through before they throw us out.”

“Maybe you do, but I’m happy to stick with what I know tonight. Although thanks for introducing me to the vodka martini, shaken not stirred.” To illustrate the point, Kim took another drink from her glass and braced herself for the scathing rebuttal. _I need to wait until she shows her hand before I can disarm her._

Shego let out a condescending laugh of derision. “Sorry, Kimmie, but if you want to sit with the adults, you have to drink with the adults. Although I understand if you’re not up to the challenge.” As she spoke, Shego saw that the girl was still smiling, her words having had zero impact. She frowned to herself, _why does she look so calm and confident?_

“I’ll happily take up any challenge you throw down, but we both know I’ll lose this one,” Kim replied, allowing her opponent a brief smile.

_Doy, Kimmie, that’s the whole point._

“You’ve got way more experience when it comes to drinking, not to mention any effects your glow might have. There’d be no **challenge** in you drinking me under the table. It’ll be **easy**.” Kim let her words hang in the air, a knowing smile on her lips.

 _Son of a bitch! Princess is right. It’d be so easy to drink her under the table that it would be like betting on a soccer game when the score is 4-0 and there’s only a minute left to play. There would be zero thrill in it. No rush of adrenaline from knowing I’m just one wrong move from certain defeat… Damnit!_ A dark scowl formed on Shego’s face at the realisation that somehow, just like when she was caught in an inescapable death trap, Kimmie had escaped. _How on earth does she do it? It’s… it’s… it’s fucking INFURIATING!_ It was nothing short of a miracle that Shego managed to stop her hands from igniting, liquifying her glass and then lashing out at the heroine.

A playful smile danced on Kim’s lips and like it were a drug, she fed off the waves of irritation and annoyance that were radiating from the villainess. She could feel the adrenaline begin to pump through her system again. _That’s it, Shego, feed your anger, you know you want to hurl a plasma ball at me…_ she stopped dead in her thought process. _Holy crap! Am I actually willing her to get mad and come and attack me?_ She shook her head. _Must be the alcohol talking._ Kim elected to ignore the report from her body that told her that she was perfectly sober.

Shego forcibly downed the rest of her martini. It was all she could do in an effort to reach inside herself and wrench Kimmie out from under her skin. No person she had ever met, not even her brothers, could get to her in the same way as the fiery-haired vixen. And they were not even fighting! _Damnit! If I attack her now, I’ll have lost at my own game. Besides, there’s still the matter of why she’s sitting here on a Friday night; drinking by herself. Guess I’m going to have to play this cool and be in it for the long haul._ She turned and gave the girl a smile. “Ok, Kimmie, fair point. We’ll save the drinking game until you’re more well versed in the world of alcohol. So, what do you have in mind instead?” _Wait a minute, am I seriously asking Kim fucking Possible what sort of game she wants to play? Like we’re best friends having a girls night out._

 _You, me, right here, right now! Youmerighthererightnow! Youmeri…_ Kim took a calming breath in order to stop her blurting out her desire to fight the raven-haired woman; right here, right now. It was only then, that she took a moment to take stock of the situation. _Ok, so she’s holding back on us fighting. That’s fine, so can I. After all, I am a professional. I’ve got plenty of self-control… Wait a minute, she’s my arch-rival, why should I hold back? I mean, what else are we going to do, talk?_ She laughed internally at her own joke, but was promptly silenced when a small voice in the back of her head said, _“ahh, but you did talk, don’t you remember?”_

It was a detail that, for her own sanity, Kim tried to repress when dealing with Shego, but the truth was that for the few days the woman had been Miss Go, they had been friends and she had thoroughly enjoyed herself. She looked at her rival and for a fleeting moment, saw a teal headband in her hair and a warm, friendly smile on her face. While Electronique’s Reverse Polarizer had turned her from evil to good, Kim suspected that everything else about her had remained intact. All her likes and dislikes, all the things they shared in common, all of them belonged to Shego too. They’d just never had the chance to explore them.

 _In another lifetime, we probably would have been best friends instead of worst enemies._ She sighed. _Was it so bad to want just one more night with ‘Miss Go’? I mean look at me. I was sitting here moping, feeling sorry for myself and languishing down at ground zero, then she comes along and with only a single sentence, rockets me up to a ten and actually has me… enjoying myself. Ok, can’t believe that I’m actually doing this, but here goes nothing._ “Conversation,” she finally replied nonchalantly. “It’s something we’re both good at. Something that’ll be much more of a challenge than drinking me under the table.” _Ok, ball’s in your court, Shego. Are you going to return it or smash it out of the court, incinerate your racquet and storm off?_

 _So, Kimmie’s actually prepared to play the long game, fair enough. Guess I might get some answers after all… Wait a minute, why the hell do I even care? Little Miss Priss here is my nemesis. I should be beating the crap out of her, not sitting down to have a drink and a nice chin-wag with her. What the hell is wrong with me?_ Internally, Shego threw her hands up in exasperation. She knew she was right, knew that she should not give a damn about the in’s and out’s of Kimmie’s personal life, that all that mattered was sending her back to her mother in a cardboard box, yet her mind had made the decision to play along the moment she’d chosen to engage her in conversation, rather than throw a punch at her.

 _Fuck you Electronique and your stupid Reverse Polarizer! Ever since those few days I spent as Miss Go, when I actually got to know Kimmie off of the battlefield, I’ve not been able to look at her in the same way. No matter what I do, I now see her as a person rather than just an enemy… a person with whom I share a lot in common. Someone that I… No, no, no! I am not even going to entertain that thought. It’s not happening!_ Shego turned away from the heroine and screwed up her eyes in a desperate attempt to rid herself of the unwanted thought before it had a chance to fully formalise, but she was too late. _Someone that I’d actually enjoy spending time with… Fuck!_

Shego signalled to the barman before she turned back around to face Kimmie. This was going to take a lot of alcohol. “Ok, Cupcake, but if this is going to be a game, then we need some rules.”

Kim laughed, “what, so you can break them?”

An evil smile formed on Shego’s lips. “Naturally. I’m a villain, remember. Breaking the rules is what we do. But we still need to have some.”

“Fine,” Kim replied, feeling a slight rush of excitement. _We’re actually going to do this!_ “We each take turns to ask a question, that we have to answer truthfully. However, answers to any follow-up questions are at the discretion of the person being asked. And we’re not allowed to use a later question to ask a follow-up question to a previous question.” _Urgh, I made that sound so much more complicated than it actually is._

 _Heh, already trying to build in some wiggle room for yourself, Princess. Fair enough, I’ll just have to make sure my first questions are well worded._ Shego nodded her head. “Ok, sounds straightforward enough.” She then flashed Kim a devilish smile. “The loser is the person who either refuses to answer or starts the fight.”

It felt somewhat reassuring to Kim, on hearing her rival speak those words, to know that they were both on the same wavelength. That this was yet another competition between them and that sooner or later, they would be engaged in another one of their deadly dances. She just had one stipulation first. “I’ll agree to that on one condition.”

Shego eyed Kimmie carefully. “Which is?”

“We take the fight outside.”

The raven-haired woman rolled her eyes. “You always have to be little Miss Considerate, don’t you, Possible.”

“Hey, this is a nice place. If we trash it tonight, they won’t let us back in next time.” Kim had to force herself not to clap a hand over her mouth. _Did I honestly just say that!_

Shego let out a laugh. _Well, that was a rather big Freudian slip, Cupcake._ Only she did not know whether to feel happy or annoyed that Kimmie thought they should do this again. “Getting a little ahead of ourselves there, Pumpkin,” she replied coolly. “I might send you scampering home to mommy so quickly that you’ll never be able to show up to stop one of Drakken’s plans again.”

“Don’t count on it, Shego,” Kim fired back, quickly recovering from her moment of embarrassment.

The pair locked gazes and both could have lost the game there and then had it not been for the timely intervention of the barman. “What can I get you, Ladies?”

Given that she was the one most seriously in need of a drink, it was Shego who broke eye contact and turned to answer the man. “Get me an Aunt Roberta and whatever Princess here wants.”

“An Aunt Roberta?” Kim asked curiously, having never even heard of the drink.

Shego gave her a smile. “If you couldn’t handle the vodka martini, then this doll’s well out of your league.”

“Didn’t say I was stupid enough to try and drink one. What’s in it?” Kim replied, then turned to the Barman. “I’ll have a mojito, please and thank you.” While she had already accepted that she could not compete with the raven-haired woman when it came to drinking, she didn’t want to be seen to be going all the way back to square one; especially if Shego was upping the ante on her end. _Besides, I actually like mojitos._

 _Hmm, not bad, Pumpkin. I’ll make a hard drinker out of you yet._ However, instead of passing commentary, Shego chose to answer the question. “Gin, vodka, brandy and blackberry liqueur; all at forty percent and absinthe at forty-five percent. And that counts as your first question.” The corner of her lip curled upwards at the look of irritation that spread across the heroine’s face.

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Kim exclaimed in mild outrage.

“Your rules, Kimmie,” Shego replied, then said to the barman, “we’ll take those over in that booth in the far corner.” She pointed a finger towards an empty booth at the back of the room.”

Not willing to let Shego have everything her own way, Kim quickly thrust her hand into her pocket and pulled out her purse. Before the other woman even realised what she was doing, she’d handed a twenty to the barman. “There,” she said with a gleam of triumph in her eyes, “now you have to dance with me.”

 _Oh, that was low and underhanded, Kimmie... I approve._ Getting to her feet, Shego plucked her jacket from the back of the stool and slung it over her shoulder. “Shall we, Princess?”

For the briefest of moments, Kim hesitated. _Am I actually about to willingly sit down in a bar with Shego and talk about ourselves? “If it was Miss Go, you wouldn’t even be having this thought,”_ the voice in the back of her head said. _But she’s not Miss go, she’s Shego. “But if you’re right, everything about Miss Go is in there somewhere,”_ the voice continued. _“Remember, you’re a firm believer in peoples choices being what defines who they are. All the Reverse Polarizer really did was alter what choices Shego chose to make. Miss Go is simply the person who she was before she made the choice to be evil. And while you’ll not likely get her to change sides, you’ve already got her to make the Miss Go choice of sitting down and talking, rather than the Shego choice of shooting plasma at you.”_ Kim rose from her stool and picked up her jacket. _I sure hope I know what I’m doing._ With that, she followed the raven-haired woman across the room to the booth in the far corner.

Shego felt a strong sense of déjà vu as she sat down in the booth opposite Kimmie. _It’s like I’m reliving an event from someone else’s life, where that someone is me. AHHH, that doesn’t even make any fucking sense!_ Hastily she picked up one of the food menus and held it up as a buffer between herself and the other girl. _Ok, so I’ve done this before when I was stuck as Miss Go... But she’s not me, not anymore._ She could almost feel the teal headband in her hair. _So what if I enjoyed spending time with Kimmie then? That stupid Reverse Polarizer fucked with my brain. I’m doing this because I want to mess with her, possibly pour some salt in her metaphorical wounds and then kick her ass._

At the sight of Shego with the food menu, Kim felt her stomach growl loudly; she’d not eaten since mid-afternoon. Without hesitation, she picked up the other one and began to peruse it. _Oooh, gourmet burgers. I can totally get behind one of those. Now, chicken or beef?_ After a few moments of swithering between a Philadelphia beef burger or a crispy Cajun chicken one; choosing the latter, she looked over at her dinner companion. “Made up your mind yet,” she asked, before quickly adding, “and no, you are not claiming that as my second question.”

The question cut through Shego’s frenzied thought process and she quickly realized that she hadn’t actually looked at her menu. Fortunately, she’d eaten here enough times that she didn’t need to. “Definitely a crispy Cajun chicken burger. How about you?” The smile that formed on Kimmie’s face told her everything that she needed to know. _Oh, screw you, Princess. This does not count as something else we might happen to have in common._ She felt her cheeks begin to burn slightly as the heroine’s smile widened. _Damn, I need to hit back at her before she becomes insufferable. Fine, Cupcake, you asked for it._ “So, I thought Friday night was supposed to be Bueno Nacho night. Yet here you are, drinking alone in a bar. Where’s that doofus sidekick come boyfriend of yours?”

Kim’s smile quickly vanished and she averted her gaze, unable to maintain eye contact with those piercing emerald orbs. _Why did she have to pick Ron as the topic of her first question?_ She had to take a moment to compose herself. _Seriously! Straight out of the gate and she goes for the jugular._ She sighed. It had been inevitable that the subject would crop up at some stage of the evening, so she might as well get it over with. “We broke up,” she answered, her tone flat and laced with the pain she still felt over the whole situation.

She could easily have made any number of cruel jokes or sarky comments, given that she had just hit a gaping wound with her first shot, but on hearing the pain in Kimmie’s voice, Shego chose to stay her tongue. The manner in which those three simple words had been uttered, told her all she needed to know. The breakup had been bad and the girl had lost not only her boyfriend but her best friend too. That was why she was drinking by herself. Kimmie was both lonely and wanted to be alone. _I can’t believe I’m actually thinking this, but even though she’s better off being shot of the buffoon, I actually feel sorry for her._ The thought should have come as little surprise for she too had been on the wrong end of a bad breakup, back in her hero days. She could empathise perfectly with Kimmie’s pain. _Urgh, just give me the teal headband and call me Miss Go already._ “I know it means jack coming from me, but I’m sorry, Kim,” she said with perhaps the most sincerity she had used since becoming a villain. _Now where the hell is my booze?_

Kim felt a solitary tear run down her left cheek and she quickly brushed it aside. _The last thing I need is for Shego to see my crying._ Then she heard the woman’s words of sympathy and her gaze once more returned to focus on her. _What the hell?_ She ran the sentence through her brain multiple times, checking for any hint of sarcasm or other malicious intent; it came back clean. _It’s like she responded as the woman who was briefly my friend, not the one that is my enemy. And she used my proper name!_ Kim had absolutely no idea what to say or how to even take the offered sympathy. Eventually, because she felt like she had to say something, she replied softly, “thanks.”

Fortunately, for both parties, a waiter arrived with their drinks and on seeing they had menu’s out, asked if they wanted something to eat. They gave him their orders.

Taking a sip of her Aunt Roberta, Shego felt the burn of the strong alcohol as it hit the back of her throat and smacked her lips. _God, that hits a spot._ She waited patiently to see if Kimmie would rally and ask her a question. While she could have pressed for the details about the girl’s breakup with the buffoon, she knew no answers would be forthcoming. The event was still far too raw in the heroine’s memory.

The brief break in the conversation that the waiter had provided, had been enough for Kim to regain her composure. Sipping her mojito, she pondered what she should ask Shego first. _The obvious thing would be to ask why she should me sympathy instead of mocking me._ The thought crossed her mind and was quickly rejected. _She’s not pressing me for the details, so I should extend her a similar courtesy. Besides, I’d rather just move away from the Ron topic altogether._ It only took a few moments for something else to spring to mind. “After the Lorwardian invasion, you and Drakken had an opportunity few supervillains ever get; the chance to start afresh with a clean slate. Why did the two of you throw it away and go back to villainy?”

Shego burst out laughing upon hearing the question. _Ok, Princess, if you want to have **the** talk so early in the evening, so be it. I’m just glad I’ve got my Aunt Roberta. _“Why did you throw away the opportunity to go to any college you wanted?”

“Hey, you have to answer my question before you get to ask one of you own,” Kim replied indignantly. _We’ve only just started and already she’s trying to cheat._

Shego just smiled. “Answer my question and you’ll have the answer to yours.”

Kim gave the raven-haired woman a puzzled look. “Because I value truth and justice above everything else? I somehow doubt that’s why you and Drakken returned to villainy.”

“Ha,” Shego said sarcastically, “that’s a load of bullshit and you know it.” _Damn, I thought Kimmie would have been smart enough to know the actual reason that she decided to go into the hero business fulltime. This talk might be more of an eye-opener than she can handle and we might end up fighting before dinner gets here. And I was so looking forward to that burger._

Kim sighed. It had been a nice attempt on her part to try and sell Shego the lie, but her rival had seen right through it like it was cellophane. _Ok, mental note, lying to her isn’t going to be that easy. And I was the one who said we were supposed to tell the truth._ She rolled her eyes. “Ok, fine, I turned down all my college offers because I enjoy my missions. Happy?”

 _Oh, I’m not happy yet, Princess, but give it time._ “Then there’s your answer as to why Drakken and I went back to villainy after the invasion.” The look of confusion Shego received in response to her reply told her that this was going to be a rather long conversation. _Let’s hope it takes long enough for dinner to arrive before she decides it’s time to step outside._

“How can you the two of you enjoy what you do?” she paused for a moment as a thought occurred to her. “You are aware that Drakken is never going to take over the world, right?”

“Doy, Princess!” Shego said as she resisted the urge to smack her own forehead. “Drakken’s the idiot, not me.”

While Shego’s reply came as little surprise, the whole thing made zero sense to Kim. _Do they enjoy losing? Is that even a thing?_ She needed more information. “If you at least know that Drakken is never going to succeed, then how can you possibly enjoy what you do? Any success you guys have is sort lived at best. In fact, why even work from Drakken at all? Surely you’d have more luck on your own or if you teamed up with one of the other villains.” _Nice going, Possible. Just go and give your rival pointers on how she might be a more successful villain._

Shego let out an audible sigh. _Pumpkin, you know nought about what you say._ “What if I told you that the reason I work for Drakken is **because** I know he’ll never succeed and take over the world?”

This new information flummoxed Kim and she had to run it through her brain multiple times to confirm that was not a lie. “You work for Drakken **because** you know he’ll never succeed,” she said under her breath, as she mulled over the possible connotations. _Why on earth would you work for someone, whose sole goal is to take over the world, if you know he’ll never manage it? Unless…_ “you want to be a villain, but don’t ever want to take over the world?” she asked, still unsure as to the reasoning behind her conjecture.

Shego gave Kimmie the smile Miss Go had used when someone had figured out a difficult problem. “Bingo. I have no interest in taking over the world.” _Now let’s see if you can figure out why._

“Ok…” Kim said trepidly, still feeling as though she were walking on loose ground, “…you like being a villain, but don’t want to succeed in taking over the world…” _It doesn’t make any sense._ After a few moments of pondering, she had to ask, “why?”

 _Guess this is where I have to explain the hero/villain equivalent of the birds and the bees. And I’ll wager that she doesn’t like it._ “What do you think would happen to me, or any villain for that matter, if we actually managed to take over the world?”

“You’d become supreme overlord of absolutely everything?” Kim ventured, trying to imagine Drakken as world ruler, but getting an image of Shego instead; her trademark catsuit having become trousers and a jacket with a cape.

“Which would mean?” Shego said, rotating her hand in a coaxing manner. “What would it literally be impossible for us to do?”

Kim looked thoughtful for a moment. “If you ruled the whole world then… you’d be the one making the laws… and if you’re the one making the laws then breaking them has no consequence.” She smiled as the last piece slotted into place. “You’d no longer be a villain!”

 _My, my, Princess, I’m actually quite impressed. Maybe you’ll understand the fundamental truth after all._ She beamed at the girl with a look right out of Miss Go’s positive reinforcement playbook. “Exactly, Cupcake. We’d all be bored stiff as we would no longer be able to break the law or take over the world.” She allowed the girl time to process this information in the hope that she would formulate the next question by herself.

Consciously aware that Shego seemed to be using her own question to lead her to some sort of deeper answer, Kim vocalised her next train of thought. “So, you plot to take over the world, but never want to succeed because you would be bored stiff if you did… does that mean you do it purely for the fun of the act, not because you want the end result? The age-old adage of the chase is better than the catch.”

 _You really are good, Kimmie. Why on earth haven’t Global Justice snapped you up yet? No, one thing at a time. If we’re still in the talking phase after this round, maybe I can ask her about it._ Shego took a drink of her cocktail. “Would you believe me if I said that, at our core, heroes and villains are exactly the same?”

Kim, who was taking a drink of her mojito as Shego spoke, almost spat it out as she involuntarily laughed. “What?” she spluttered in disbelief. _Has that alcohol gone straight to her head?_ “Heroes and villains are like chalk and cheese. We’re the complete opposite of one another. You all try to take over the world and we all stop you.”

Shego threw her head back as she burst out laughing. _Even after all she’s just deduced, she can’t see past the fundamental lies most of us tell ourselves. Perhaps if she is steered in the right direction…_ “At-at-ah, Kimmie,” she said as she waggled her right index finger. “We already established that all us villains, whether we’re aware of it or not, do what we do for the thrill of it, not the end result. And don’t forget the real reason you turned down all those colleges.” _…aww crap, I’m treating this like a teaching exercise. Why did I have to go and get that sodden degree?_

Kim opened her mouth to argue but found herself silenced by Shego’s last statement. _I decided to do the hero thing full time because I enjoy my missions… I love the thrill and the adrenaline high I get while I’m doing them. And she’s basically just told me that’s why she does the whole villain thing. Yes, she’s extrapolated it to include all villains, but her logic is sound… Holy shit! She’s right!_

Shego watched in amusement as the atomic bomb went off inside Kimmie’s head. _Damn the sight of her right now is delicious. Guess I’m having my dessert before my main course tonight. Now to hammer home the lesson._ “Take it from someone who has batted for both teams, deep down, regardless of whatever bullshit they might try and sell the world and themselves, heroes and villains are exactly the same. We all do it for that high we get from facing incredible danger. That rush that can only be felt when you are a whisker away from victory or defeat and you know that even the slightest mistake will cost you everything. Ultimately, we’re two sides of the same coin. If we didn’t have you, we’d rule the world and be bored stiff and if you didn’t have us, you’d be exactly the same as you would have no one to fight.”

As she listened to Shego talk, Kim felt the shaky foundations of her life crumble. In fairness, she’d started to suspect that things like truth and justice were just weak justifications for why she did her missions, ever since she’d made the decision to go fulltime. However, she had never contemplated that it might apply to other heroes and especially not to the villains she fought. _God! I’m an adrenaline junkie! That’s why I feel so flat when I’m at home for any length of time. Why I came out to drink tonight and why I sat there pondering various crazy stunts. I was desperate for an adrenaline hit! And that’s exactly what I got when Shego appeared. Even as I sit here, I’m feeding off of the rivalry between us and the prospect of getting to fight her. And I love it!_

Shego frowned as the watched the expression on Kimmie’s face shift from sheer shock to contemplative and then finally to one of excitement. _What on earth is going on in that head of yours, Cupcake? Surely you’re not actually coming to terms with that atomic truth bomb?_ She studied the red-haired vixen for a few more moments. _Shit, you actually are! Hmm, an enlightened Kimmie. How might that affect our battles?_

Neither party had the opportunity to ask any further questions as the waiter returned with their food. The pair ate in silence, both pondering the other and the downright bizarre situation in which they found themselves. When they had cleared their plates and the waiter returned to take them away, Shego ordered them another round of drinks; upgrading her own to a Zombie while Kim settled for another mojito. And while both eyed up the dessert menu, neither chose to partake as they knew full well that the extra food might make them sluggish when it came time for their dance.

“So, why haven’t Global Justice snapped you up yet? I would have thought they would have gotten their hooks into you the second you turned eighteen?” Shego eventually asked, breaking what had been a surprisingly comfortable silence.

“What can I say,” Kim replied with a wide smile, “I like my freedom.”

“So, they’ve tried to recruit you?” Shego inquired. While she was not a fan of GJ in general, for obvious reasons, the idea of Kimmie being restrained by all their rules and regulations felt abhorrent somehow.

“Yep, on my eighteenth birthday, I received a card that dubbed as a stun grenade when I opened it. Everyone in my kitchen was knocked out cold. When I woke up, I found myself sitting in Betty’s office.”

“Betty?” Shego scoffed. “Seems like you’re on a first-name basis with the top brass.”

“Yeah…” Kim replied with a sigh, feeling the wave of slight annoyance she always got when dealing with anything GJ related. While they had come to an arrangement that no longer involved her being unceremoniously whisked away from whatever she was doing when they wanted her help, every mission she did for GJ always came with a side order of pressure to join them. “She told me that since I had elected not to go to college and due to my experience, they were willing to wave their usual requirement of either a degree or exemplary service in the armed forces and enrol me in their training program. And that if I kept up my current level of performance, I’d be a full agent within a year, a squad leader in two and possibly even a department head by five.”

 _Damn, those grey-suited assholes want her bad. That offer’s similar to the one they gave me all those years ago and I had a degree. Let’s hope Kimmie is smart enough not to fall into their web._ “That sounds like a serious offer. Why’d you turn it down?”

Kim took a drink of her mojito. She couldn’t be sure, but that almost sounded like concern in Shego’s tone. _What might she be concerned about involving me and GJ? Maybe something to ask her on my turn, since we’re on the subject._ “Like I said, I like my freedom. I like being able to pick my own missions and carry them out the way I want. If I joined Global Justice, they would dictate when and what missions I did and I’d have to follow all of their rules and regulations. Not to mention that grey is so not my colour.”

“And the fact your monthly earnings probably far exceed a GJ salary has nothing to do with it?” Shego teased. It had come as a surprise when Kimmie had started charging for her services, but unless you had public funding like Team Go had or worked for GJ, there really wasn’t another option for the fulltime hero. Favours could only take you so far and she doubted you could wangle a free apartment, utilities plus all your food out of people you’d helped in the past. In her experience, people tended to have rather short memories.

“You know I wouldn’t charge if I didn’t have to,” Kim replied, slightly defensively. Whenever she thought about it for too long, the subject always had a habit of bringing her mood down. “I don’t do it for the money. I do it because I enjoy it, remember?” _And the adrenaline rush that comes with it._

A wicked grin formed on Shego’s face. “Oh, Kimmie, ” she sing-song’ed, “that Country Club Banana jacket is calling to you and it says that you should sue yourself for slander.” _Yes, Princess, I haven’t failed to notice Ty your upmarket attire._

Kim groaned upon hearing Shego’s latest quip. She couldn’t deny that she had been splurging some of her rather hefty income at Country Club Banana and other designer stores, not to mention that her apartment wasn’t cheap. “Ok, so I like the fact that I make enough money to shop in CCB. It’s not like I’m the only one,” she looked pointedly at the woman’s green leather jacket, “that’s from this season. I saw it in the window last time I was there.”

Shego grinned, g _uilty as charged._ “I saw it in the window too, then went back later that night to get one for myself, along with a few other choice items.”

Kim rolled her eyes. “You steal your wardrobe?” _Of course she steals her wardrobe. She’s a master thief and highly amoral, remember._

“Why pay the sticker price when I can get it at a huge discount?” She grinned as she recalled something from earlier in the evening. “Since we’ve got underage drinking pretty much down,” she indicated the mojito in Kimmie’s hand, “and shoplifting is the next crime on your path to the dark side, why don’t you and I take a trip to Beverly Hills, do some window shopping during the day and the go back at night and pick up our selections?”

Even though she had no clue as to whether or not Shego was joking, Kim burst out laughing. And she was not sure what was more amusing, the suggestion itself, or the fact that they were in a position to even share such banter. Yeah, sure, they threw around witty remarks while they fought, but never anything like this. _While I’d never, ever shoplift, the idea of going on a shopping trip with Shego doesn’t sound nearly as insane as it would have done only a few hours ago. Damn, I think I’d actually enjoy it. Unfortunately, and I can’t believe I’m actually thinking this way, I’ll need to decline._ “Sorry, Shego, but if you decide to break into a mall while I’m around, the only new clothes you’ll be getting is an orange jumpsuit.”

“So, you’d come as long as I didn’t break into the mall?” The words escaped from Shego’s lips before she could even attempt to stop them. _Why the hell did I just say that? I was taking the piss and all of a sudden, I’m making what sounds like a genuine offer of a shopping trip to Beverly Hills. What the hell is wrong with me?_ Infuriated with herself, she took a drink of her zombie and finally became aware that the alcohol was starting to take effect. _Ok, I can blame it on the booze._

Kim did a double-take when she heard Shego’s response. _Did she just insinuate that she wants us to go shopping? You need to decline and firmly,_ she told herself. However, at the same time, she could not escape the fact that she felt slightly disappointed. Sitting here, with Shego, she felt like her old self again. She’d wanted one last night with Miss Go, but it was transpiring that Shego was every bit as much fun, maybe even more so. _No, this is a bad idea. This is fine as a one-off, at night and somewhere relatively private. But if we’re caught acting friendly with each other in public by the press, it’ll be a disaster for both our reps._ The image of herself covered in shit on the front of this week's tabloids drifted through her mind like a bad odour. She’d had more than enough of the press after that story had run. “Sorry to disappoint, Shego, but my wardrobes full for this season. So it’s a no on the shopping trip.”

 _Phew, thank God Kimmie has some sense. Moving swiftly on…_ “So, are you still living with your parents?”

Kim clicked her tongue in amusement. “Cheating again, Shego. If you keep doing that, I might think you’re some sort of nefarious no-good-doer.” She laughed as her comment brought a smile to the raven-haired woman’s face. “It’s my question. What’s Drakken’s next plan for world domination?” Her laughter intensified when a look of horror spread across Shego’s face. Clearly, she had not expected her to be so underhanded.

“I can’t tell you that!” Shego blurted out, emerald eyes as wide as they could go. _Damnit, Kimmie, I’m supposed to be the evil one here._

“You have to, or you lose the game,” Kim replied playfully. “Consider it payback for your repeated attempts to cheat.” She fixed her opponent with a mischievous gaze, drinking in the worry on her face. She allowed Shego to sweat for a couple of minutes while she drank her mojito, before eventually saying, “it’s not another death-ray, is it?”

Shego sighed long-sufferingly. _Well, it’s not my fault if she’s able to guess._ “Yeah, it’s another death-ray.”

Kim burst out laughing. “Seriously? What is he building this time, a hyper-super-ultimate-death-ray?”

The raven-haired woman shook her head in derision. Not at Kimmie, but at Drakken for his ridiculous operation name. “Project ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray,” she said with a snort. “So far, it’s claimed the lives of a coffee maker, refrigerator, microwave and a chunk of the floor that Drakken just managed to vacate in time.

The pair laughed at the ridiculous nature of Drakken and his latest plan as they finished their drinks. After ordering two more, they continued with the game, although everything asked after that point was mostly trivial stuff. However, they did agree that the entire night and everything discussed had to stay between them.

After Shego had answered a question regarding her brothers, Kim withdrew her phone from her pocket and glanced at the time; 11:45 pm. She glanced over at her opponent and could tell that she was getting slightly antsy. To be fair, so was she. They’d verbally sparred for a few hours now and they’d reached a point where neither of them was going to win. Kim did not know how, but they had reached a mutual, non-verbal agreement not to pry too far into each other’s personal lives. To where the open wounds lay that they both could exploit and thus force the other into action. Draining the last of her mojito, she met Shego’s brilliant emerald eyes. “How about we call this round a draw?”

Shego met Kimmie’s gaze and knew exactly what she was insinuating by wanting to call time on their conversation. _I’ve been waiting all night for this_ , _Princess. Now your ass is mine._ “A draw? Sounds fair to me.”

“Shall we head then?” Kim replied, rising slightly unsteadily to her feet. “The Middleton High playing fields should give us enough space and privacy.” She was drunk and her body not one-hundred percent under her control, however, so was Shego. _We’ll both be a bit sluggish to start with, but I doubt either of us is that far gone that we won't sober up once the adrenaline starts pumping._

Shego quickly followed suit, taking stock of her own condition and of her opponents. “You read my mind, Cupcake. Lead on.” Carefully, she followed the red-haired vixen out of the booth. _We’re both drunk, but still more than able to fight. And if things get rough, I can always use my glow to sober up._

Side by side the two ladies left Spritzers. To say it had been a weird evening for both, would be like saying that the tweebs were only mildly irritating. However, they had both unexpectedly enjoyed themselves and the best part was still to come. Walking in silence, Shego following Kim’s lead, the pair made their way to Middleton High School and its spacious playing fields; guaranteed privacy. It was time for their dance to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I’d thought about stopping this chapter at the point where Kim and Shego sat down in the booth, however, I changed my mind and kept going until the point at which they leave the bar. Hence why it’s so long. As a result, the next chapter might be relatively short, depending on how long I can write about these two knocking lumps out of one another and if I decide to leave the aftermath until the following chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and I’ll see you next time out for chapter four: This is how we dance.


	4. This is how we dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys. So, it turns out that I can have Kim and Shego knock lumps out of each other for just over 4000 words. As I said in the comments, I've been holding back on posting this chapter until I was certain that I knew where I wanted the story to go. Well, now I am and it seems my initial idea about this being a one-shot is well and truly out the window. I've thoroughly enjoyed writing Kim and Shego thus far and I would very much like to explore the characters and their relationship in much more depth than I initially anticipated. So, I hope all of you, like myself, are prepared to stick it out for the long haul. 
> 
> In terms of this chapter, I would like to point out that this is the first time I've written a martial arts scene of any length. And since Kim and (presumably) Shego are martial artists, I used my basic working knowledge of Tae Kwon Do as a basis for it. Hopefully, it is easy enough for you guys to follow and get an idea of what these ladies are doing to each other. If not, please let me know and I'll endeavour to come up with a different approach for when they inevitably lock horns in the future.

A full moon hung in the sky against a very dark navy, almost black, star-filled background. No clouds obscured its bright, almost majestic form, as it beamed light down upon the Middleton High playing fields. It had just gone midnight, but the air still held a light warmth; there was no breeze. Completely alone and at least half a mile away from any other wakened individual, Kim and Shego stood a few meters apart on the dry grass and faced each other.

“Last chance to back out, Kimmie,” Shego taunted, her black lips forming into a wide smile. _Not that you would, but if you even think about it, I’ll hurl plasma balls at you all the way home._

“Is that your way of telling me you’re scared and want to call this off?” Kim goaded in reply. She laughed internally. _As if either of us is going to back out now. She’s as desperate for this as I am. I guess the villain life has been rather boring of late._

“Bring it, Possible!”

“Oh, don’t worry, I will!”

Guards raised; the pair slowly gravitated towards one another. By the time they had drawn to within a meter and a half, they began circling.

“Hero’s first,” Shego said with a smirk, inviting Kimmie to throw the first punch. For now, at least, she kept her glow suppressed.

“You asked for it,” Kim replied and without breaking breath, launched a front-snap-kick at her opponent’s chest.

Shego parried the blow to the side with an outer forearm block but had to duck as Kimmie used the momentum to throw a turning-kick at her head with her other leg. This was quickly followed up by a back-kick from the first leg that she had to backflip away from. _A three-kick combo straight off the bat, damn Princess is fired up for this. To bad for her that it’s my turn._ Landing on the balls of her feet, Shego sprang forward into a flying-side-kick.

Kim saw the technique coming too late to effectively counter it and so was forced to jump backwards beyond its reach. She had no time to pause for breath as the second Shego landed, the woman launched straight into a series of punches that she was hard-pressed to block. However, she managed to catch a break when she rather riskily diverted one across her own chest, leaving her with an opening to launch a knee strike straight at Shego’s side. At the last second, the raven-haired woman threw herself to the ground and rolled away unscathed. _Heh, I guess my opening salvo got her all worked up, good._

Shego had only half picked herself up off the ground when she was forced to parry an axe-kick that had been on a collision course with her head. Unfortunately, the momentum behind it had been such that her forearm immediately began to throb. _Damn, that hurts like hell._ She quickly retaliated by dropping back down and sweeping at Kimmie’s standing leg. The red-haired girl hopped over it effortlessly.

As though it were happening in slow motion, Kim, still in mid-air, saw Shego spring to her feet and caught the first opening of their dance. Before the other woman had fully formed her guard, she sent a side-kick straight through it, catching her square in the chest and sending her flying. _Gotcha! First blood to me._ A grin had already formed on her lips before she touched back down on the ground and she could already feel the adrenaline begin to course through her veins. “So, is this why you and Drakken have been hiding lately? You’ve lost your touch?”

Shego drew in a laboured breath through her nostrils as she took a moment to recover from the blow. _Damn, guess I’ll need to up my game a bit._ She smiled as she picked herself up off the ground. “I had to give you at least one, Kimmie. After all, you did buy me a drink.” Raising her guard, she quickly closed the distance between them. Feinting a turning-kick, she brought her foot back in a swift hooking-kick. Her opponent ducked and took a stab at her stomach with a fore fist punch. However, Shego had been ready for this, blocked it with a forearm and rechambered her leg into a snap-kick.

Kim saw the front-kick too late and had to throw herself down onto her back to avoid it. She quickly planted her hands to backflip away, a good thing to as Shego quickly descended with a punch directed at her head. Tumbling through the air, her gaze returned to the front just in time to see the driving uppercut her opponent had seamlessly transitioned into before it caught her clean in the jaw and sent her sprawling backwards to the dirt. “ _Son of a…”_ she cursed internally as she flexed her jaw. She counted herself lucky that she had not just broken it. Grinning, she got back to her feet.

“You’ll have to be faster than that, Cupcake,” Shego taunted, allowing her opponent the chance to re-centre herself. While the blow would still have been enough to knock the average person out, she had in fact held back on it; knowing full well that Kimmie had done the same. This was the first time they had actually fought one another without something else going on in the background to either interfere or hasten the dual to its conclusion. And she knew that both of them wanted to savour it.

“Like you said, I had to give you at least one. You bought me a drink too,” Kim replied with a laugh. _God, getting the chance to recover during a fight with her is strange. Normally, neither of us give any quarter and would have quickly pressed an advantage against a downed opponent. Heh, I bet that doesn’t last. Shego won’t want to remain at such a sedate pace for any length of time and I sure as hell don’t._

“Break times over, Kimmie,” Shego called out as she quickly advanced on the heroine.

“Are you sure that rusty body of yours doesn’t need another minute?” Kim retorted as she too set off once more.

A chain of turning-kick, side-kick, snap-kick and a jumping-spinning back-kick by Kim were all blocked or evaded by Shego, who responded with a hand combo of fore fist punch, reverse punch, spinning back fist and twin knife-hands; all blocked. Both combatants took a step back before quickly re-engaging. Rock-solid on one leg, the pair clashed with a series of kicks, before Kim was forced to drop her leg by one of Shego’s crescent-kicks. A smile formed on the latter’s face, but quickly vanished when the former swept her trailing leg with an inner-forearm block. With their legs now back on the ground, the pair wasted no time in engaging with hand techniques. In a frenzied blur, the two women threw technique after technique, block after block at one another; neither managing to break through the others robust defence. Eventually, their forearms clashed with enough force to shatter any lesser mortals’ limb and they paused; teeth ground and breathing ragged as they allowed the shock of the impact to ebb.

“Hate to admit it, Pumpkin, but going pro has done wonders for your technique and I’ll bet you’re not even at full throttle yet,” Shego said with a grin. _God, I’ve missed doing this on a weekly basis._

“Glad you noticed. But I know you’re still holding back too,” Kim replied and she smiled. It was only then that a thought occurred to her. _My skills have developed ten-fold since my very first mission and even this slow pace is better than I could have fought at my best back then. So, unless Shego has improved at the exact same rate, how on earth was I able to beat her back then?_ Kim looked directly into her adversaries piercing emerald eyes. “Shego,” she asked curiously, “when I first started foiling Drakken’s plans, were you holding back on me?”

 _So, she’s finally figured it out. I can’t say I’m surprised, especially after our little chat earlier._ “I already told you, Kimmie, if the heroes don’t win in the end, we all lose. Don’t get me wrong, you gave me a good fight back in the early days, but yeah, I was always holding back.”

There was a time when such news would have been a hammer blow to Kim’s ego, but she was older now and able to handle such truths with a lot more decorum. _It’s funny, but I’ve got a feeling that some part of me always knew. She’s always been a phenomenal martial artist and I’ve seen her glow powers cut through steel like it were tissue paper on numerous occasions. Yet none of the injuries she ever dealt me caused any life-threatening or permanently debilitating damage. I guess that leaves just one question,_ “when did you stop holding back?”

Shego considered her options for a moment. _Do I lie to her so that she’ll keep pushing herself to get better? Or do I tell her and trust that she won’t stop just because we’re at the same level now?_ She let out a small sigh and hoped she would not regret it. “The night of your junior prom. That was the first time you genuinely beat me. I threw everything I had at you that night but was powerless to stop you kicking me into that electrical tower… I actually thought you were going to kill me.”

Kim nodded her head in acceptance. “I was so angry that night that I think I genuinely wanted to. In fact, when I kicked you into that tower, I thought I had. That’s the only reason that I stopped and didn’t go after you. By the time I realised that you were still alive, I’d somehow managed to regain control of myself.”

 _No wonder I couldn’t beat her that night, she was fighting to kill. Heh, I guess that’s darkly ironic. I’m the villain but have never fought to kill her, but she’s tried to kill me._ Shego stared intently into Kimmie’s eyes, needing to know one thing, “any regrets?”

“Only that I let my anger get the better of me,” Kim replied flatly. “While I had to stop Drakken, if I’d killed you in the process that would have been the end of me as a hero.” _Not to mention that I much prefer you alive._

“Fair enough. However, now that you know the truth, I need you to promise me something.”

 _Ok, where is she going with this?_ “Which is?”

“That you’ll keep pushing yourself to get better. I don’t want a return to the days when I need to hold back against you.” _God, I can’t believe that I’m actually telling her that. Unfortunately, I don’t have a choice. I’ve waited so long to find an equal that there’s no way I’m going to give her up without a fight._

Before tonight, it would have been unthinkable to Kim that she would ever have heard such a remark from Shego. It just wasn’t in the raven-haired woman’s nature to show such emotion. W _ow, I think I’ve actually made a serious impression on her over the years. She’s actually worried that I’ll stop trying now that I know I don’t have to._ “Fine, but only if you do the same. If beating you ever becomes easy, I’ll quit and leave you and Drakken to some other hero.”

“Deal. Now, shall we dance?”

“Lets.”

And so, their deadly dance resumed as both combatants span away from each other and into a guard. Shego launched the first attack; a barrage of turning-kicks that went low-high-low. Kim blocking each in turn and then firing straight into her own combo of consecutive axe-kicks that fed into a turning-kick and then a hook-kick; all blocked or evaded. Stepping inside, Shego closed to hand range and led with a series of rolling punches, only to have Kim duck under them and blow her guard wide open with rising twin knife-hands. For a heartbeat, there was nothing bar a few centimetres of air between their sweaty bodies; chests heaving from the exertion. Their eyes locked, causing them both to grin before a quick flurry of elbows and knees were engaged. While throwing a back-fist at Shego’s head, Kim failed to adequately block an incoming knee and lost just enough momentum from her own attack, that her opponent was able to grab and retain her wrist. Helpless to defend herself, Kim felt Shego spin around to her back before she was mercilessly launched over the woman’s shoulder. Flying through the air for a few seconds she landed hard on her side and let out a cry of pain. _FUCK THAT HURT!_

Seeing her rival sprawled out on the dirt several meters away, Shego broke into a run. Leaping into the air she bore down on the red-haired vixen with a punch aimed directly at the girl’s head. “Say goodnight, Princess!” she yelled, only four foot from striking distance. Then, at the last possible moment, Kimmie rolled onto her back. Shego’s eyes widened in horror as for a split second she saw the grin on her opponent’s face before she was vortex thrown over the girl’s head.

Kim heard the low thud that was Shego crashing into the dirt as she sprang to her feet. _Wow, I got some serious distance with that throw!_ She could feel pain radiating from the spot where she too had hit the dirt and knew she would have some serious bruising on that side of her body come morning. However, at the moment, she did not care one iota. The adrenaline was keeping the pain to a minimum and she could not honestly remember the last time she’d had this much fun. “Better hurry up, Shego, cos here I come!”

From her position on the ground Shego cursed internally. _Fuck me. I don’t think I’ve hurt this much since my fight with Warmonga. Oh, Kimmie is so going to get it now._ Rising to her knees, she felt a further stab of pain from her shoulder and knew it was dislocated. Gritting her teeth, she seized the joint with her other hand. _Get back in there you…_ “BITCH!” she screamed as she forced the shoulder back into its socket. She had no time to linger on the injury as the sound of Kimmie’s voice, accompanied by the thundering of her footsteps told her that break time was over.

In front of her, Kim watched Shego jump to her feet; a look of mad determination in her eyes. She wasted no time in rattling off a barrage of kicks, smiling to herself as she forced her rival to dodge backwards. Pressing her advantage, she pushed forward with continuous axe kicks, causing the raven-haired woman to further backpedal. “You’re going down, Shego!”

“Not a chance, Kimmie,” Shego yelled as she leapt backwards to put some distance between them so she could get back on the front foot. She launched into her own series of kicks, chaining together twin side-kicks followed by a jumping spinning-turning-kick, that fed seamlessly into a spinning foot sweep the second she landed.

Things only increased in speed and ferocity from that point on and mistakes started to be made, resulting in injuries sustained by both parties. For a solid fifteen minutes, Kim and Shego threw everything they had at each other and at a tempo rarely reached by either, even by the standards of their duals. All the while the raven-haired woman continued to suppress her glow. Kim had no gadgets, so she got no glow. This was purely about their martial arts prowess.

Eventually, Kim saw an opportunity to take control of the fight and she took it. Shego had kept her guard stationary for a fraction of a second too long and she pounced. With a lightning-quick three-strike combo, she knocked her opponents guard down with the first to blows and then delivered a powerful palm-heal straight to her clavicle. The raven-haired woman staggered backwards and Kim followed through with a side-kick. Giving her rival no time to recover, she sprang into the air and let off a string of four front-kicks before her feet once more touched the soil.

Shego barely managed to evade the barrage of kicks that came her way and found herself quickly backpedalling as Kim took to the air again. _Shit! I need to stop this assault before she overwhelms me._ Shego blocked the incoming turning-kick and with only a split second to make a decision, she took a serious gamble. With both hands, she grabbed at the air where she anticipated a second kick would come from. It did and she caught Kimmie’s leg while the girl was still airborne. “Down you go, Cupcake,” she yelled as she immediately hurled her adversary to the deck.

Kim landed hard on her back as Shego bore down on her once more. However, this time she had no time for a vortex throw and could only shift her head to the side in order to avoid the incoming punch. There was a thud right next to her ear as the raven-haired woman’s fist impacted the grass. She did not spare a split second’s thought to whether or not her opponent had just broken her knuckles. Instead, she hit Shego in the gut with a one-inch punch and used the brief moment in which the woman flinched to roll her over.

The two women quickly descended into a mass of flailing limbs; all technique thrown completely out the window as they tried to wrestle each other into submission. Eventually, now drenched in sweat and absolutely worn out, Shego managed to throw Kim off of her and the two lay there on their backs panting for breath; both knowing that if the other was to manage to get back on top of them, then they would be beaten. When neither of them had moved for a full minute, they both knew it was over. “Draw?” they said in unison before each cracked a faint smile.

“That’s certainly the best fight we’ve had in a long time,” Shego then said as she struggled to sit up. _Damn, I ache in places I never even knew I had._

A grin plastered itself across Kim’s face as she followed suit. “More like best fight ever.” Even though the adrenaline was quickly ebbing, she was still completely buzzing. _God, I’m going to hurt in the morning, but it was totally worth it._

“You might actually be right there, Cupcake.” _What am I saying, she is right. No one has ever pushed me that hard._

“Then you’d better tell Drakken to hurry up with that super-duper-hyper-death-ray of his because I can’t wait to do it again.” Kim felt absolutely zero shame at having just uttered those words. She knew she shouldn’t feel this way, that a hero should never want a supervillain to try and take over the world, but she did not care. _If it means I get to fight Shego more often, Drakken can go back to trying to take over the world on a weekly basis._

“Now, now, Princess. Don’t get ahead of yourself. You might want to heal up before our next bout. Although,” Shego paused and flashed Kimmie a devilish smile, “if you can’t wait to dance with me again, you can always ask me out on a date.” _Shit, did I really just say that? Did I actually just invite her to ask me out on a date?_

Shego’s words hit Kim just like one of her punches and her mouth fell open. _Did she just suggest that I ask her out on a Date!_ She felt her cheeks start to burn the same colour as her hair and was thankful that some clouds had rolled in during the course of their dance and now obscured the moon, making it less likely that her rival would notice. Soon a barrage of questions began to fill Kim’s head. _Does she do girls? If so, does that mean she is interested in me? More importantly, do I do girls? I don’t think so, but then again, my track record with boys isn’t great... What am I saying, of course I don’t do girls!... Then why do I really want to take her up on that offer?_ Kim rolled her eyes at that last thought. _Doy, because right now I’ll do just about anything if it means I get to fight her again, as tonight felt amazing._ Whether it was due to the high she was currently riding or the desire to have a rematch or something else entirely, against her better judgement, Kim finally replied, “what would you say if I did?”

Of all the responses she had expected to hear, the one she got had not been on Shego’s list. In what may have been a reactionary act of self-preservation, she was about to fire back, _“Doy, Princess, I was taking the piss,”_ but something stopped the words from escaping her lips. For the first time ever, Shego **looked** at Kimmie. While not overly tall, she had a gorgeous lithe figure, pretty facial features and sumptuous red tresses that flowed down her back. However, the Pièce de résistance had to be those big olive-green eyes. _Fuck, I’m actually checking Kimmie out and she’s hot as hell. Great, now what do I do? I’ve suggested she ask me out on a date and now she wants to know what I’d say if she did. I’ve only ever seen her with boys before. Does she even do girls? Oh, why the hell am I even thinking about that, she’s my nemesis for fuck sake._ However, instead of retreating back to her self-preservation line, Shego responded with, “I’d tell you not to bother unless you were serious about dating a girl.”

“Ok,” Kim replied, both slightly relieved and disappointed with her rival’s response. _Ok so it sounds like Shego actually likes girls, but does that also mean that she was being serious? And does she **like** me?_

Kim had just started to ponder whether or not she should ask, when the raven-haired woman abruptly said, “well, it’s been fun, Cupcake, but now it’s time we went home. I’ll see you around **if** Drakken ever finishes his latest death-ray. Later.” And with that, Shego turned and walked away.

“Later,” Kim called out after her, feeling her high ebb slightly. _Well, what did you expect,_ she chastised herself, f _or her to give you a hug and promise to call you in the morning? Just because the two of you had one fun evening together, doesn’t change who she is. And as much as you might want her to be, she’s not Miss Go._ Kim let out a slightly deflated sigh as she watched Shego disappear into the darkness, knowing full well that she was right. _Either way, it was still a blast,_ she thought, not wanting to end the evening on a downer. Gingerly, she began to make her way across the Middleton High playing fields towards the exit. She knew that come tomorrow her body would physically be sore. What she didn’t know was that the evening's activities would land her with a major headache too. And it would have nothing to do with the alcohol she’d drunk.

##

Slouching through the darkened streets, Shego began making her way back to where she’d parked the Blackbird. She could already feel some of her more serious injuries make themselves known as the last of the adrenaline ebbed. When she got home, she could simply turn on her glow and have it take care of the whole lot. Except for some inexplicable reason, that felt wrong. Kimmie would definitely be in pain tomorrow and it somehow felt fitting that she be too. They’d shared something tonight. What, she did not know, but it had certainly been… something.

 _Urgh, and I had to go and spoil it all with that stupid date comment? What was I thinking? Even as a joke it was lame. And then I made it worse by suggesting that I’d say yes if she was serious about dating a girl._ She let out a low sigh. _Get a damn grip of yourself, Shego. Ok, so you think Kimmie’s hot, big deal. She’s never actually going to ask you out so who cares? Yeah… who cares?_

Trying to force all thoughts about Kimmie from her mind, she trudged the rest of the way back to the Blackbird. Pulling her helmet out from under the seat, she shoved it over her head, climbed on and started the motor. Revving it loud enough to wake anyone on the block, she shot out of the parking lot and off into the night. Little did she know that both she and Kim would be suffering some serious physical and mental torment come the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was that? I hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter. I have written chapter 5 and am in the process of writing chapter 6 and will post both once I've finished and am happy with them. Hopefully, the wait will not be too long. Again, please let me know if you had any difficulty in following the fight sequences and I will try my best to rectify this in future chapters. Once again, thanks for reading and I'll see you all for chapters 5 and 6, tentatively titled Experiment with Destiny? and Solitary Mind Games.


	5. Daydreaming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, folks, welcome back. As promised, here are chapters 5 and 6 of And You And I. Before we get started, I'd just like to thank all of you that have left me kudos thus far and especially to you guys who have left me a comment. Just to let you all know if you do decide to leave me a comment, I will reply to you and try my best to answer any questions you might have. Anyway, moving on. 
> 
> For those of you that are interested, both the story title and chapter names are taken from either the titles of songs or their lyrics (on occasion I may make a slight alteration). I will list where they have all come from at the end of chapter six. Anyway, I had initially titled this chapter Experiment with destiny, however, I was listening to the Paramore track Daydreaming yesterday and it got to the lyric, 'It's not that I won't remember where I'm from, just don't wanna be here no more. It's not enough, we're only half alive...' and I thought, Wow that fits perfectly with how I imagine Kim feels when she is back home at this point in her life. So, with that in mind and because the title fits, I've renamed this chapter Daydreaming.
> 
> Ok, so last two things before we get going, promise, I feel I should warn you all that this chapter depicts nudity and includes the description of a sexual act. If you think that sort of material will make you uncomfortable, then please read at your own risk. I also feel that I should point out that my depiction of Middleton High's attitude towards homosexuality is taken from my own experience of high school life in the early 2000s. I am aware that in the majority of places, there is far greater tolerance towards homosexuality than there was 20 years ago. However, that is the time period in which Kim Possible is set and so that is how I have chosen to depict the school. Personally, I have always been a strong supporter of the LGBT community and so any views on the subject that may possibly be construed as negative are purely those of the characters in question; not my own. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy chapter 5 and I'll see you shortly for chapter six, enjoy.

_Oww_. That was the sum total of Kim Possible's thoughts when she awoke on Saturday morning. Opening her eyes, she was met by beams of bright sunlight breaking through the gaps in the blinds and casting her bedroom in a warm glow. _Fuck, I hurt absolutely everywhere._ She winced in pain as multiple parts of her body protested at her attempt to roll onto her side. _What time is it?_ Her gaze fell upon her alarm clock and she groaned; 10:30 am. _I should have been up hours ago. I’ve missed my morning workout and breakfast and I’ve not checked the Kimmunicator since five o’clock last night._ A mirthless laugh escaped from her lips. _Yeah, the world’s going to have to do without Kim Possible, I’m totally going incommunicado today._ She grimaced as she felt another stab of pain from her left-hand side. _Heh, probably gonna have to make that the rest of the weekend. No hero work for me until Monday morning._ A cheesy smile formed on her lips. _But it was so worth it._ She’d got home at half-past one in the morning, her dance with Shego having lasted a full hour. It had then taken her forty-five minutes to properly assess and treat her numerous wounds, which included having to strap her ribs; the two instances she’d been thrown to the ground having caused serious bruising and possibly a crack or two.

Kim lay amidst the soft sheets and duvet of her king-sized bed; Pandaroo beside her, a look of joyous discomfort smeared across her face. Movement by movement, blow by blow... wound by wound, she replayed her fight with Shego inside her head; each injury flaring up when she recalled the attack that caused it. _Fuck, with no Drakken to get in the way, we really went at it last night._ She grinned at the recollection of the horror in her rival’s eyes when she caught her out with that vortex throw. _Heh, she didn’t see that one coming._ Her mind then moved through the barrage of kicks she had dished out, culminating in the one Shego had caught. _Yeah and I never saw that coming._ She winced as her back ached at the memory of being slammed into the ground. Things got a bit hazy from that point onwards as they started grappling with each other on the ground. Kim’s body relaxed and her breathing steadied as the fight culminated in the pair of them lying on the ground; both utterly spent. _Best fight ever!_ Her eyes involuntarily closed as she once more slipped into unconsciousness.

##

It was lunchtime before Kim finally roused from the seductive comfort of her bed. _Urgh, I hate when it’s so comfy like this and I have to get up._ Unfortunately, nature had given her no choice and so with great reluctance, she climbed out of bed. She staggered slightly as she stood up, her limbs aching and pain flaring up at the sites of her various injuries as she insisted the respective body parts perform their function. Gingerly she crossed the room and opened the blinds; the mid-day sun pouring in and causing her head to throb. _Ok, didn’t realise my head hurt that much. Did I take a knock to it? Or am I slightly hung-over?_ This latest discovery, combined with her not insignificant number of aches resulted in a single thought, _painkillers._ Heading into her en-suite bathroom, she used the facilities before locating a bottle of codeine in the cabinet above the sink; leftovers from when she’d hurt her back a few months ago. She tipped two small round pills into her hand. _Urgh, I hate taking these, I always end up stoned to some degree._ A memory, or at least the hazy fragments of one, floated through her mind of the first housebound day after she’d suffered the back injury. _Yeah, I was totally out of it that day and only marginally better the next._ She’d drastically reduced her dose after that. Preferring the trade-off of more pain in exchange for greater awareness of her surroundings. She sighed as she swallowed the codeine with a mouthful of water.

Kim wandered out of her room and into the spacious main living area. She paused and gazed out of the large window that overlooked the mountains in the distance. The view perfectly unobstructed and clear, bar the slight tinge to the glass. She paid it no heed, well used to it by now. It was a sacrifice she’d had to make within a week of moving in. Prior to the Lorwardian invasion, her missions had started receiving greater media coverage, slowly making her a figure of public interest. She’d even made it onto the front cover of a prominent magazine. However, afterwards, her star had skyrocketed, hastened by the first time she busted Drakken, given the public interest in him after he had become a global hero. It had all been of little interest to her. She had not wanted to be a celebrity, never seeking the limelight or media attention her missions may have brought. Unfortunately, the press had taken to her like moths to an open flame. But her continual refusal to play ball, embrace her celebrity status and smile for the camera had not gone down well with the tabloids. Resulting in them constantly snooping around for an embarrassing story, such as the shit show with Dementor from this week. Nevertheless, she’d only been in the apartment a few days when the first drone had tried to snap some pictures of her. One well-placed shot with the grapple had snagged it out of the air and it had promptly been destroyed. Afterwards, a phone call to Wade had seen workmen there within two hours to replace all the windows with privacy glass. It had cost her a small fortune, but along with the other security measures her tech-savvy friend had installed, it had given her peace of mind that she could do as she pleased without it ending up on the front covers of the gutter press.

Kim sighed as she made her way into the open plan kitchen to boil some coffee and make some toast. Back in the day, before the Lorwardian’s had decimated large sections of the planet, her security could probably have been bought with favours. Except favours were no longer the currency of the hero business. With a shortage of resources and increased demand, currency had become the currency of her world. Even Wade now charged for his services. And while the two of them still tried to operate on a favour-based system, Kim knew there was a complex mathematical model in the background that tracked the current cost of everything from the smallest of components to the most dangerous of missions. It was for this very reason, combined with the fact that she now had the time, that she now managed a lot of her business herself. Everything from her website, request handling and mission prep were all done by her. She even forewent the cost of having Wade run tactical on the easier jobs, his time being a rather expensive commodity. Although he always kept a line open between himself and the Kimmunicator should she get into a jam.

Toast and coffee made, Kim settled down on the sofa, pulled a light blue throw over herself and turned on the TV. Half-heartedly, she watched an episode of some trashy daytime drama as she consumed her breakfast, however, it was not long before her mind journeyed back to the events of the previous night. _“If you can’t wait to dance with me again, you can always ask me out on a date,”_ the words, said perfectly in Shego’s sassy tone, found their way into Kim’s thought process and quickly drew her full attention. Playing it back in her head after the event, it sounded just like any other of the raven-haired woman’s glib comments. Except her own eventual reply and Shego’s response had made it something… something more.

 _Why did I ask her what she’d say if I asked her out? Do I want to go on a date with Shego...? Or am I just desperate to fight her again? I mean last night was fun and all, but I don’t do girls… at least I don’t think I do. How would I even know?_ It was a question Kim had never asked herself before last night. She’d always liked boys and always been told she should like boys. Even having it drilled into her by Mr Barkin in sex-ed, another one of the classes he had covered for some absent teacher. She heard the gruff teachers voice boom inside her head, _“All right, listen up people. Boys date girls, boys kiss girls and boys mate with girls. End of discussion.”_ That really had been the end of discussion. Homosexuality and by extent bisexuality had been a non-existent element of the curriculum and almost a taboo subject around Middleton High. In fact, those few souls who had been brave enough to openly admit that they were gay, had found themselves victim to frequent bullying, put lightly.

Maybe last night with Shego had unshackled something in her brain, or maybe it was the side-effects of the codeine finally kicking in, regardless, Kim found herself thinking about the idea far more liberally than she perhaps would have otherwise. _Ok, so how would I know if I liked girls? I don’t know anyone, seemingly with the exception of Shego, that is either a lesbian or bisexual, so I can’t ask someone about it. And it’s not as if I can just go out, find a girl and kiss her. Besides, it doesn’t work that way. There are plenty of boys out there that I could kiss and feel absolutely nothing for; a number of them exes of Bonnie. Well, what about the boys I’ve dated, what did I like about them?_ She let out a deflated sigh when she ran through the list of boys she’d dated. Josh, Eric and… Ron. It was a depressingly short list. The first had been a long-term crush that had transpired to be little more than infatuation when she had finally started dating him and the relationship had gently wound down of its own accord. All in all, nice hair, skin and dreamy eyes had been the depth of that attraction. Next, there had been Eric, the Synthodrone engineered by Drakken to be perfect for her. To respond to her in the correct way every single time, never making a mistake. As much as she hated to admit it, she had enjoyed her time with Eric. Except it hadn’t been real. In hindsight, it lacked that human element that came from disagreements, arguments and mistakes. All in all, someone who acted perfectly in each and every scenario did not make for good analysis as it failed to properly represent a real person. That left… Ron…

A tear formed in her eye as an image of her former boyfriend and best friend filled her mind; Rufus on his shoulder. The two of them had been best friends since pre-K and eventually hooked up. Love? An extension of their friendship? Expectation from their peers? She didn’t know anymore. Just that they had been together for nineteen months before she finally walked out. She’d loved Ron, still did as a matter of fact, but definitely as a best friend; not a boyfriend. However, he was not even that anymore. _Maybe it’s just my memory of that time, but most of what we did felt just like best friend stuff. There were rarely any moments that could have been called romantic. Hell, we never even made it to third base. He always had his boxers on and me, my panties. And even then I could never shake that awkward feeling…_ Kim’s mind wandered through her sexual encounters with Ron for a bit, lamenting the fact that she had never been one-hundred percent comfortable and that the few orgasms she’d experienced had been less enjoyable than what she could do with her vibrator, although that wasn’t saying much. Only she could hardly blame Ron for that. They’d both been young, inexperienced and in fairness, there sexual encounters too sporadic for him to learn what she liked. Come to think of it, she wasn’t really sure what she liked yet. She owned a single vibrator, bought at a sex toy party she’d been invited to by Monique in her college dorm, which she used on average once a week…

Kim cocked her head slightly, an idea forming in the depths of her slightly addled brain. A smile slowly spread across her face and she began to giggle. _Heh, heh, heh, that might tell me if I like girls or not. Should I do it…? Hell yeah, I should!_ Tossing the blue throw to the side, she stood up and semi-staggered through to her bedroom. _God, that codeine has hit me like a tonne of bricks._ Her eyes caught sight of the lava lamp that sat atop a bookcase and she was strangely entranced by the weird shapes made by the wax inside the bulb. _Cool, psychedelic!_ She burst out laughing, _now it looks like a peeenis!_ …w _hy am I in here again?_ It took her a moment to recall that she had come for her vibrator. She burst into another fit of giggles when she removed it from her nightstand along with a bottle of lubricant. Her hysteria continued all the way back to the main living area.

Plonking herself down on the sofa, Kim pulled her pyjama top up above her breasts, slipped off her trousers and spread her legs. _Ok, now what?_

A voice that sounded eerily like Shego’s replied, _“doy, Princess, now you think about girls as you try to get yourself off.”_

 _Easier said than done._ This had always been a sticking point for her when it came to masturbation; she never knew what to think about. Before they’d broken up, she’d sometimes tried to think about Ron. Except that had always left her feeling awkward. Thinking back on it, perhaps it had been an indication that there had been little in the way of sexual attraction between them, at least on her part. Anyway, that point was moot as she was supposed to be thinking about girls. Gently, Kim began to massage her breasts. An image of Bonnie popped into her head and she abruptly stopped. _Eww, no, not going to happen! Even if I do like girls, I’d never touch her; even if she was the last one left on the planet._ The image quickly vanished, replaced by one of Monique. _Ok, better…_ She played with her breasts a bit more, slowly starting to rub her nipples as she pictured her best girl in her bikini. Monique was attractive, sexy even… and brought about the same feelings of awkwardness as Ron did. She stopped what she was doing. _Ok, so Monique is too much of a close friend_ , _who else do I have to pick from…?_ She sat and ran through a list of her other female friends, not helped out by the fact that most of them had boyfriends.

 _“Let’s think…”_ A shiver ran down Kim’s spine and caused a tingling sensation to spread across her skin at the sound of the Shego-esque voice whispering inside her head. An image of the raven-haired woman, with a mischievous smile on her lips, formed in her mind when she continued, _“…who do we know that is beautiful, sexy and likes girls…?”_

_I am not thinking about Shego as I try to get myself off!_

Her fingers had already started to lightly pinch her nipples when the voice said, _“would you like me to put my bathing suit on?”_

 _No, I would not like you to... holy crap those are some legs!_ An image of Shego, dressed in her green and black bathing suit and lying face down on a sun lounger, filled Kim’s mind and her nipples immediately hardened, sending a ripple of pleasure through her body. _Ok, was not expecting that. Thank you, strange part of my mind, now why don’t we stop the show here._

The Shego voice let out a seductive, albeit mocking laugh, before it said, _“leaving so soon? You haven’t fully appreciated my assets yet...”_

_No thank y..._

Shego arched her back, giving Kim a full view of her tight ass before she rolled over onto her back. Kim’s eyes closed as she squeezed her breasts together and let out a stifled moan at the image her mind had conjured from memory. The perfectly waxed and oiled green-tinged skin of Shego’s legs glistened in the imaginary sunlight as Kim’s eyes travelled up her body. Her taught navel was hidden beneath the thin material of her bathing suit as were her voluptuous breasts, however, it was no less satisfying to ogle. She was breath-taking to behold and actually made Kim feel a tad jealous. Except she was not done taking in the whole picture. Thick black tresses rolled down Shego’s back, framing a perfectly proportioned face, that sported a wily smile and a pair of piercing emerald eyes that looked like green fireballs.

_“So... like what you see?”_

The fingers of Kim’s right hand answered for her as they travelled south and softly began to massage her clit; surprisingly finding herself wet.

Shego laughed again inside her head. _“Oh, come on, Cupcake, are you that surprised I’ve got you all hot and bothered? After all, I’m very good a turning up the heat,”_ the raven-haired woman raised a finger and it erupted with her green plasma. _“Now, want to see more?”_

“Yes…” Kim whispered out loud, feeling her body shudder in anticipation.

_“Ok… but it’s going to cost you…”_

Kim’s internal eyes almost popped out of their sockets as Shego seductively dragged the lit finger down the front of her bathing suit to her naval and pulled the two halves apart to reveal her sumptuous breasts.

_“…now, lube up that vibrator and let’s get buzzing.”_

She did as her brain come Shego commanded, picked up the vibrator, squeezed some lube onto it and turned it on. “YOWZER!” Kim exclaimed as she touched the pink silicon toy against her clit and felt a wonderous jolt pulse through her.

_“See, told you I’m hot stuff.”_

She watched as Shego began to tease her own breasts, occasionally slipping a hand down her navel towards her hidden treasure. Small jolts, like sparks of static electricity, started shooting off inside her and she began to feel a somewhat foreign sense of excitement and desire.

 _“You want me to take it off all the way?”_ Shego asked as she tossed her mane of raven hair and gave her a devilish smile.

“URGH, yeah,” Kim moaned, her left hand roughly pinching a nipple.

_“Good answer. Now, why don’t you slip your little friend inside and I’ll slip out of this?”_

She gave no complaint as for the first time ever, she felt a genuine need to have the vibrator inside her. Pressing the thin silicon head against her opening, Kim watched as Shego lit up a finger once more and cut away the remains of her bathing suit. Seeing the green-skinned beauty in all her glory for the first time, even though it was purely her own imagination, she pushed lightly and felt the toy effortlessly slip inside her. She gave only the briefest of thoughts to the fact that it was never normally this easy before the tip caught her g-spot and sent a shockwave of pleasure coursing through her. Wrapped up in the enveloping ecstasy, Kim slid her other hand down to rub at her clit as inside her head, Shego began to finger herself. She started to rock her hips slightly and she could feel the pressure building, ready to burst.

 _“That’s it, Kimmie,”_ Shego said seductively, her eyes glistening with lust, _“cum for me!”_

Kim’s body obediently obeyed. Every single muscle contracted as she felt a tidal wave of pleasure crash over her and she yelled out, “ARGH!” For a few moments, her body remained in a tensed state and she saw a kaleidoscope of ever-changing colours. Then everything relaxed. The wet vibrator slipped out of her and to the floor as her body fell limp, head slumped and eyes rolled. While the bar had not been overly high to begin with, Kim could not help but have a single thought flutter through her drug and orgasm addled brain, _best orgasm ever!_

##

Kim did not know how long she lay in an orgasm and codeine induced haze on the sofa. She just knew it had felt good… really good. Finally opening her eyes, she slowly sat up, her head still rather boggled. _Ok, note to self, drugs plus orgasm equals a trip to ga-ga land._ Pulling her vest top down over her breasts, she gazed at the glistening fluid that still clung to her pubic hair. _Guess first stop’s the bathroom for me._ She rotated her shoulders and felt them crack. _Actually, a shower sounds nice right about now._ She reached down, pulled off her trousers and picked up the vibrator before getting to her feet, swaying slightly. _“You know, that toy is supposed to be waterproof…”_ a voice in the back of her head said, before she promptly silenced it, _let’s not get carried away._

She wandered through the apartment to her en-suite bathroom and turned on the shower. Pulling off her pyjama top, she deposited it and the trousers in the laundry hamper and sat the vibrator beside the sink for cleaning. She then removed her dressings and unwrapped the strapping she’d put around her ribs; the bruising not a pretty sight to behold. When the water was nice and hot, she climbed into the shower. _Urgh, I badly needed this,_ she mused as the water cascaded over her stiff limbs. Almost robotically she set about the task of bathing, her mind electing to deal with more pressing matters. _Ok, so does this mean I like girls? I mean it’s hard to argue with the evidence. Or are we putting this down to a fluke brought on by an orgasm drought and codeine side effects?_ Part of her brain quickly screamed at her that it had to be the latter, that she couldn’t possibly like girls and certainly not a certain green-skinned villain who she did not wish to name for fear of invoking inside her own head. Except a steadily growing part of her was seriously beginning to question her sexuality. _I’ve not exactly had the best track record when it comes to boys. Whether it was turning into a gibbering wreck every time I saw Josh Manky, completely failing to find anyone to go to junior prom with, to the point that Drakken managed to insert a Synthodrone into my life or ruining things with my best friend because our relationship failed._ Absentmindedly, Kim sat on the floor and let the hot water rain down upon her. _Ok, so boyfriends have never really worked out, but that doesn’t automatically mean I like girls. Although I have to admit, Shego does look hot in that memory I have of her in a bathing suit._

She groaned when a voice inside her head yelled, _“that’s because you were fucking stoned. You’d have probably thought a naked mole rat looked sexy, given the state you were in.”_

She sat and listened to the sound of the water splashing on the floor for a few minutes before giving the matter any more thought. _Do I have a problem with the idea that I might like girls? I’ve always thought of myself as being a very liberal and tolerant person. Or am I simply one of those shallow, sham people that is happy for other people to be into that sort of thing so long as it doesn’t directly affect me… Yeah, well, if that’s the case then it seems like the joke’s on you, Kim, as you’re going to have to figure this shit out, one way or the other._

Picking herself up off the floor, Kim turned the water off and climbed out of the shower. The cold air hit her skin and it immediately started to cover in goose-pimples. Grabbing a big, fluffy white towel from the rack, she wrapped it around her body and found a smaller one for her soaking red locks. _I’m not going to figure this thing out today, am I?_ she asked herself in slight dismay as she started to dry herself. _Dammit, Shego, why did you have to show up last night, drag me out of my misery and then go and confuse the hell out of me?_ Part of her wanted to reply that it was because the raven-haired woman was a villain and that’s the sort of thing they did, but she knew deep down it had not been Shego’s intention. They had met purely by accident and ‘off the clock’. But still… _What do I do if it turns out that I do like girls, does that mean that I **like** Shego? _A cold shiver ran down Kim’s spine and it had nothing to do with the residual water that clung to her skin. The thought of **liking** Shego was almost terrifying. They were hero and villain, rivals, enemies. Hell, she was her nemesis for Christ’s sake! Just because they had enjoyed **one** night in a bar together, which had still ended with them kicking the crap out of each other, did not make it ok for her to **like** Shego.

Kim finished drying, threw the towels in the laundry hamper and began the laborious process of re-bandaging her injuries. Walking back into her bedroom, she dried her hair at the dressing table before fetching a fresh pair of pyjamas from her wardrobe, then quickly dressed. She then picked up Pandaroo from the bed. “This is going to dog me until the next time we fight one another, at the very least, isn’t it, Pandaroo?” As always, save during days one and two of being housebound because of her back, the Cuddle Buddy did not respond. However, just airing the question to it made her feel slightly more at ease. During her worst days, when she could talk to no one else, she could always talk to her favourite Cuddle Buddy. Taking the stuffed toy with her, Kim headed back to the sofa. After the orgasm and mental workout associated with it, she was beat. Turning the TV off, she lay down on the sofa, pulled the blue throw over herself and cuddled up with Pandaroo. She drifted off after only a few short minutes. 


	6. Solitary mind games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, I told you I'd see you all shortly. So, now that we've seen the aftermath from Kim's perspective, it's time to jump in and see how Shego is getting on. 
> 
> Throughout the other KiGo stories that I've read, I've seen different interpretations of Shego's glow abilities and so I've chosen to include my own take of them. Also, because the show gives us very little in the way of details on her background, I've seen various interpretations of Shego's life before we first meet her in the show. As I write this story, I am slowly developing my own backstory for the character, the first few details of which you will discover in this chapter. I hope you all enjoy my take on the character. 
> 
> Anyway, that's about it for now, so enjoy chapter six and I'll see you all at the end.

The sound of… nothing. That was what greeted Shego when she woke up around about noon on Saturday. Yet even that proved to be too loud for the green-skinned woman to tolerate. _Fuck, my head hurts!_ Indeed, even this simple thought brought with it a stab of pain. _Son of a…_ she hastily cut the curse short in her head. Reaching out a hand, she grabbed around for the nearest cushion to shove over her head at the anticipation of how much worse things were going to be when she opened her eyes. It took several attempts before she could withstand the daylight that streamed in through her open blinds. _What the hell happened to me last night? I recall going to Spritzers, meeting Kimmie, having dinner and a few drinks with her… Fuck I spent the evening with Kimmie!_ She let out a low groan as this did not adequately explain her current state. _What the hell else did I do?_ An attempt at sitting up brought about stabbing pain in various different parts of her body. _Now I remember, we went to Middleton High’s playing fields and kicked the shit out of one another for an hour._ “Urgh,” she groaned on remembering how the whole affair had ended. _I made that stupid joke about her asking me out on a date and then she had to go and ask me what I’d say if she did. And then I capped it off by telling her that I wouldn’t consider it unless she was serious about dating a girl. God, I’m a fucking moron._

Finally managing to make it into a sitting position, Shego’s foot caught against something hard lying on the floor. Stooping down she picked it up, unsurprised to find it was an empty bottle of tequila; a rather expensive one. _Well, when I get absolutely hammered, at least I do it with good taste._ She could recall getting home now, staggering up the front steps and unlocking the front door with only the briefest of flashes from her glow. An action necessitated by some feeling that, like Kim, she too should suffer the consequences of their dance. She’d then used the tequila to dull the pain and to try and forget how monumentally stupid she’d been with that idiotic date comment. _Heh, guess I took it a tad too far with the hooch._ She had half a mind to turn on her glow there and then, to rid her of both the headache and start the healing process, but some part of her addled brain stopped her from doing so. _Since when did I become such a martyr? Still, if I don’t do something about this pain I might actually vomit._

In the most unconvincing fashion imaginable, Shego got to her feet, having to use the armrest for support until she was fully upright. _Ok, first things first, painkillers._ She took a step away from the sofa and froze. Did she even have any painkillers? Her glow dealt with all her injuries fairly quickly, albeit painfully and also with any hangovers she incurred on nights she fell asleep before using it to burn the alcohol from her system. Shit, if she had no painkillers, her options were either suffer or use her glow. The part of her brain that wanted her to just use the damn thing and be done with it reared its ugly head again, but still she suppressed the urge. _Let’s at least take a look first._

It was a futile search. None of the cupboards in any of the bathrooms, nor any in the kitchen had even an empty packet of Tylenol. It also transpired that she had no first aid kit. However, that was less of an issue. None of her injuries were liable to kill her if they did not get treated soon, otherwise, she’d be dead already, in which case it didn’t matter. At least she’d been able to change into some loungewear while upstairs. Trudging into the kitchen, she boiled a large pot of coffee and took it back to the living room; electing not to chance something to eat. Pouring a mug of thick, tar-like liquid, she sat down on the sofa with a sour expression on her face. _Since when did I become such a masochist?_ Not since Kimmie had kicked her into that electrical tower had she been in pain for such a protracted period. _Why am I even doing this? I should just activate my glow and let my mind leave my body while it patches me up._ She took a sip of her coffee and waited for the devil’s advocate part of her brain to rouse itself. She hated that smug bastard.

Eventually, it answered, _“because something changed last night.”_

Shego snorted, _yeah, my common sense abandoned me. I probably dropped down to Drakken level stupidity._

_“Try, you actually enjoyed spending time with Kimmie... you’ve missed her.”_

The expression on the green-skinned woman’s face darkened and she almost ignited her glow in anger. _I do not miss Little Miss Priss!_

_“Geeze, settle down there, Hot Head, or you're liable to blow something up. Remember, you’re at home, so it’s your stuff that’ll get trashed, not Drakken’s.”_

She grumbled to herself as she snuggled herself back against the sofa and tucked her feet in behind her bum; allowing her anger to dissipate. Home was supposed to be a quiet, tranquil place where she could relax and not feel the need to hurl plasma balls every five minutes. Not to mention the fact that she actually liked her stuff and did not want to see it reduced to a pile of molten slag.

_“Ok, so, now you’re feeling a little more relaxed, can you at least accept that you missed **fighting** Kimmie on a regular basis?” _

_Relaxed my foot! I’ve got a splitting headache and my body feels like I threw it off a cliff last night. But ok, I can accept that._ She took a long drink from her coffee cup, _yuck!_ This was going to be a long, uncomfortable conversation. She hated days when she was stuck having to psychoanalyse herself. Fortunately, they were a rare occurrence _. Before last night, I’d not had a proper fight in a month. Not since Drakken’s last plan got rumbled. And even then, it was a short affair. Princess has been so busy, that she’s pretty much dropping in at the last possible moment, giving us no time to properly duke it out._

_“Ok, good, you’ve got that out in the open. Now, how about you think about what happened in Spritzers.”_

Shego cast her mind back to the bar, to when she walked through the tables and saw Kimmie sitting there at the bar; her memory surprisingly clear. She’d felt the urge to fight the red-head there and then, but chosen to go the conversation route; intrigued as to why the girl was drinking alone on a Friday night. _Ok, so I was curious as to why Princess was sitting all alone in a bar on a Friday night. Curiosity isn’t a crime._

_“No, but it did kill the cat...”_

She laughed, _good thing the cat has nine lives then. So, what’s the point? I was curious, I messed with her for a bit..._

_“Yeah, and she totally caught you out over that damn martini…”_

_...and she totally caught me out with the martini. Big whoop, next._

_“Think about it, who else is able to go toe to toe with you like that? To call you out and have the goods to back it up?”_

_..._

_“Admit it, you enjoyed spending time with someone that’s a match for you.”_

“She’s not a match for me!” Shego yelled out loud, almost spilling her coffee as her hands shook in rage. _Fine, I admit it, we have some things in common, but she’s not someone I can be with. She’s a goddamn hero for fuck sake!_ Her green-tinged knuckles turned white as she gripped her coffee cup.

_“Whoa, easy there, Tiger. I never said anything about her being dateable. I was simply referring to the fact that **intellectually** and **combatively** , she is a match for you. However, it’s interesting that you immediately jumped to...”_

“Shut up!” Shego barked irritably, having to resist the urge to launch her mug across the room. She drained the contents and set it down on the coffee table for its own safety. _I’m not interested in dating anyone, especially not Kimmie!_

_“Ok, you’re the boss, so let’s backpedal a bit from the whole dating thing. The fact of the matter is, you enjoyed spending time with her in a **friend** capacity.” _

_I suppose so,_ she growled at her little devil’s advocate. She really did hate that logical asshole. _However, even if we ignore the whole hero/villain dynamic, I’m not exactly friendship material. I haven’t..._

_“...you haven’t had a friend since Danni.”_

“Don’t say her name!” Shego spat, her tone full of venom. _I don’t want to be reminded of her!_

_“When do you ever? But, ok, we’ll skip the trip down memory lane... today. However, the fact of the matter is, you don’t do friends because no one ever gets you.”_

_That’s certainly true._

_“But Kimmie does get you because the two of you are so alike.”_

_That’s certainly not..._ She raised a hand up to her face and shook her head. Who was she kidding, she and Princess were very much alike. Foregoing the respective sides of the hero/villain coin they were on, they had a lot of similar likes and dislikes, similar tastes and, most importantly, they both did what they did for the same reason and were willing to acknowledge it. _Ok, fine, you win. If it was not for the fact that she’s a hero and I’m a villain, Kimmie and I would probably be good friends; just like when I was Miss Go. There, are you happy now?_

_“The question is not about whether or not I’m happy, it’s about whether you’re happy. I’m just a part of you.”_

_Yeah, an annoying, pain in the ass part!_

_“Maybe, but you’re stuck with me, so let’s get back to the question at hand, are you happy?”_

Shego had no idea how to answer that question, given that it was not something that she was used to asking herself. So, she did what she did best in these situations and tried to deflect. _Can’t we just skip to the reason why I didn’t just fire up my glow last night to heal these damn injuries?_

_“In my experience, you destroy less stuff when we do this one step at a time. I might infuriate the hell out of you, but it goes a long way to help protect your things.”_

She looked around the room at the furniture and décor. It had taken her ages to get it perfect and she was loathed to start blowing it up, just because she lost control of her temper. _Fine, we do it your way._

_“Glad you agree. Now, back to the question at hand, are you happy?”_

Shego poured herself another mug of coffee as she tried to ponder this question. She wasn’t unhappy, at least she didn’t think so. Sure, Drakken annoyed the hell out of her sometimes, ok most of the time, but she still spent a lot of her time out an about, stealing things from some of the most highly guarded facilities on the planet. _I still have fun…_ the thought quickly died in her mind as she recalled the past week and all the jobs she’d done. They hadn’t been fun; they’d been a chore… and they’d been a chore because they had been easy. There was no excitement, no thrill in breaking into someplace and making off with the goods when you knew that no one could ever catch you or that Kim Possible wouldn’t suddenly put in an appearance to try and stop you. Shego almost dropped her cup, _holy crap, I’m bored stiff and have been for months. With Drakken only managing, on average, one evil scheme per month and Kimmie only showing up at the last minute to stop him, I’ve lost my main source of fun._ A dark scowl formed on her face. _And who says ignorance isn’t bliss? Had Princess not been in that stupid bar last night, I’d be none the wiser. Screw you, Kimmie!_

_“Now do you understand why you didn’t heal yourself last night?”_

_No._

The devil’s advocate part of her brain had no face, yet she knew it had just rolled its eyes. _“You’ve missed Kimmie and last night highlighted that. In terms of the pain, each and every spot where she inflicted an injury is a reminder of the fun you used to have when facing her every week. You’re afraid that if you heal it away, you’ll lose the happiness you felt when you were with her last night. The happiness that you’ve slowly lost since the Lorwardian invasion. However, the pain in your head is all down to you being an idiot and drinking too much last night.”_

Absentmindedly, Shego picked the empty tequila bottle up off the coffee table and glanced at its alcohol content; 45%. _Great,_ she grumbled, _even if the bottle had been full, it wouldn’t have done enough damage to my brain to constitute the shit that asshole is coming away with. Which means it’s probably true. Oh, what a fucked-up head I have._ Now sulking, she snatched up the TV remote and turned it on. Mindlessly, she began to channel surf, hoping it would distract her brain from continuing the shit-show that was the dissection of her own psyche. Alas, she was not that lucky.

_“So, what do you intend to do about it?”_

Shego’s reply came with the speed and ferocity of a whip cracking, _nothing!_

_“So, you intend to do nothing and just let your boredom steadily increase? Is that it?”_

_Yeah, pretty much. I’ll go to work, do my job, come home on a Friday night and get wasted if I need to. Works for everyone else._

_“Ok, but if you ask me, that doesn’t sound like you at all. The you I know would never settle for boredom. Is that not why you became a villain in the first place?”_

_Amongst other things,_ she conceded, _however, I distinctly recall you putting the kybosh on the trip down memory lane._

_“Fair do’s. But the point is, you’re not the sort of person who settles for boredom.”_

_I do when the solution to it is Kim fucking Possible,_ she spat. _If needs be, I’ll find something else that’s fun._

The devil’s advocate started to laugh. _“Good luck with that. In the meantime, I’m going to wager that you get all excited about the prospect of Drakken finishing his latest death-ray and the chance of dancing with Kimmie again. Come on, admit it, you lik…”_

“SHUT UP!” Shego yelled as she got to her feet. Her fists had clenched, her whole body shook with rage and her control over her glow was hanging by a thread. It was unfortunate then, that at that moment, a dirtbag talk show host started to talk about Kimmie. The second the photograph of her covered in shit appeared on the screen, she snapped. In a flash, her hands erupted in bright green plasma and she let out a ferocious yell as she hurled a twin-handed blast at the talk show host’s sleazy face. The TV exploded, pieces flying in every direction only to be vaporised within moments due to the sheer intensity of the heat from the blast. Seething, Shego stared through the smoke at the large charred mark on the wall and the crinkled, receding edges of the wallpaper that framed it. Fortunately, she’d had the foresight to have all the interior walls reinforced with a form of concrete that mad science had developed; precisely for this eventuality. While an extended burst of her plasma would break through, it could withstand a single blast.

“Oh, fan-fucking-tastic,” she exclaimed. _I’ll need to get the wall repaired **and** redecorate the entire room! God, I don’t half do some stupid things when I’m angry. _She didn’t have the headspace to deal with this right now. She took a calming breath and extinguished her plasma, but her glow remained. It had been active long enough now to detect that she was injured and would not subside until she was fully healed, no matter what she did. In normal circumstances, she’d learned to cope with the mass influx of pain that came from her body rapidly healing itself. But these were not normal circumstances. Her head was pounding, her emotions all over the place and her list of injuries more severe than they had been in a long time. The likelihood of her being able to lie down and let her mind leave her body while the healing process ran its course was slim to none. No, she was going to have to suffer through it like in the early days.

Shego shuddered slightly at the prospect, as she headed out of the living room. The pain already starting to intensify from each and every injury. She’d not bore the full brunt of her rapid healing ability in years. Only this time there would be no Danni to… She stopped dead in her tracks at the mention of the girl’s name. Except she couldn’t blame her little devil’s advocate this time. _Don’t think about her… don’t think about her…_ The image of a girl, with long blonde hair, blue eyes and a devilish smile on her face rose from the depths of her mind and to the surface. It almost caused her to reignite her plasma. _Think about something else… anything else… hell, I’ll happily take Kimmie over her._ As if on cue, the image of the blonde girl melted away, replaced by vibrant red locks, perfect skin and those beautiful olive-green eyes. It may have been the pain talking, but she could not help but think, _damn she’s hot. And I’ve got a bad feeling I…_ She stumbled and her hands scrambled to reach the door frame to stop her falling over.

Vision starting to blur from the slowly mounting agony, she staggered towards the stairs and had to grab the bannister for support as she made her way up and to her bedroom. Half falling, half collapsing, she landed atop her bed and struggled to pull her knees up to her chest. Within moments, she was writhing in agony, tears welling up in her eyes. A steady whimper escaped from her lips and she struggled to contain herself. Head thrashing from side to side, Shego hugged her knees in a vice-like grip. Then in one violent motion, she threw her head back and let out a blood-curdling scream… 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so there you have it, chapters 5 and 6. Don't say I'm not good to you now, lol. I hope you all enjoyed them and are looking forward to the next update. I've written what should have only been the opening to chapter 7, but it has run to over 3000 words, so I might have to split it in two and have it bookend chapter 8 (you'll see why when you read it). Unfortunately, you that means you might have to wait a few extra days for me to finish 7,8&9 before I'm happy with the sequence of events, but it will mean you get 3 chapters next time, so it should hopefully be worth the slight delay. Anyway, I hope to see you all for the next update. Until then, thanks for reading.
> 
> ##
> 
> As promised at the start of chapter 5, here are the sources of the story and chapter titles used thus far and a brief reason why I picked them. 
> 
> And You And I: title of a song by the prog-rock band Yes from their album Close to the Edge. I wanted a simple title for the story and this just fit for me.   
> 1) Owner of a lonely heart: another song by Yes, this time taken from their 90125 album. I thought it described how Kim was feeling perfectly.   
> 2) Born to be wild: Song by Steppenwolf. Personally, a perfect description of Shego.  
> 3) Set the fire to the first bar: Song from Snow Patrol's Eyes open, but with the word third changed to first. A metaphorical fire was ignited within Spritzers that night and with the two ladies in question, it could easily have become a literal one.  
> 4) This is how we dance: Lyric from the Paramore song Let the flames begin, from their Riot! album. An apt description of the events in this chapter.  
> 5) Daydreaming: Song from Paramore's self-titled album. Not only did I feel some of the lyrics described Kim's life at home perfectly, but the song title also fit the events in the chapter.  
> 6) Solitary mind games: Song by space rock outfit Hawkwind, from their Choose your masques album. I felt this described the situation going on with Shego in this chapter.


	7. Home, home again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone and welcome back. As promised, I have three chapters for you to enjoy this time around. Before we get started, I just want to say a huge thank you once again to everyone who has given me Kudos for this story and especially to you guys who have taken the time to leave me a comment. It is always great to hear from people who are enjoying my work and it really does give me that extra incentive to keep writing and make my stories the best that they can be. As I've mentioned before, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them and I'll do my best to answer without revealing any spoilers.
> 
> In terms of this chapter, there is not too much to say, other than the title is taken from the lyrics to Breathe (reprise); a song from Pink Floyd's 1973 masterpiece The Dark Side of the Moon. Seriously, if you have never heard it you should give it listen (just make sure to set aside 45 mins and listen to all the tracks in order). Also, any of you eagle-eyed readers might recall that Shego made reference to this same lyric back in chapter 2.
> 
> Anyway, that's enough from me for now and I'll see you shortly for chapter 8. Enjoy.

“THIS ISN’T OVER, FRAULEIN POSSIBLE!”

Kim watched as her adversary, Professor Dementor, was dragged towards the open doors of a waiting police van, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She’d come to enjoy these moments. The last parting shots of a villain whose latest plan she’d scuppered. In fact, they were often quite humorous, at least from her perspective. The mad ramblings of someone who had yet again underestimated her and was now clutching at whatever straws their mind could conjure up, in order to try and maintain a shred of credibility. 

“I WILL DEFEAT YOU! AND WHEN YOU ARE LYING AT MY FEET, I WILL TAKE YOUR FANCY BATTLESUIT!”

Fortunately, she always had a witty comeback ready for them. “Back to Azkaban you go, Dementor. Maybe if you’re lucky, your friends will great you with a little kiss.”

A fair few of the assembled reporters and even some of the police, burst out laughing. However, Dementor, it seemed, had failed to get the joke as he let out one last yell at her. To which she replied by blowing him a kiss. Another round of laughter broke out as the police shut the doors and the van pulled away. Mission accomplished! _Now, if only I could deal with the media as easily._ Cameras flashed and microphones appeared all around Kim as a pair of police officers kindly escorted her to a waiting car. From every direction, questions were fired at her at breakneck speed. Some were fairly bog-standard, fact-finding ones that came from real journalists who wanted to report the actual news of the event.

“Miss Possible, how did you track down Professor Dementor?”

“Kim, can you tell us how difficult this latest Mission was?”

Some were more speculative in nature, the askers clearly wishing to add her viewpoint to whatever article they were writing.

“Kim, are you worried about the continued absence of Dr Drakken?”

“Do you think governments across the world are doing enough to stop the rise of new supervillains?

However, as always, the gutter press was doing its very best to ask the most irrelevant drivel.

“Miss Possible, can you tell us who does your hair?”

“Was this a vendetta mission for you because of last week’s Schizer film shoot?”

“Do you care to comment on the latest stats that suggest you’re past your best? Are you considering early retirement?”

“Are you seeing anyone at the moment?”

Kim ignored them all as she deftly made her way to the open car door. When she reached it, she turned and looked at the committee of vultures, cameras still flashing. _Better give them something to chew on._ All the voices ceased when she opened her mouth to say, “Possible sends Dementor back to Azkaban. There’s your headline, so go do the rest yourselves.” Swiftly she climbed into the backseat of the town car and closed the door. Outside, she could still hear the low din of voices; intermixed with the distinct clicking of the cameras. She signalled for the driver to depart as she pulled her seatbelt on. Only once they had set off and were well away from the chasing press did she relax.

“Where to, Miss?” the driver asked as he turned to give her a warm smile. He was an older gentleman, with an ageing face and greying hair that only showed faint hints that it had once been brown.

“The airbase, please and thank you,” Kim replied.

“Sure thing, Miss. We’ll be there before you know it.”

From a drink’s holder in the door, she withdrew a bottle of soda, uncapped it and guzzled a large mouthful, like she had not drunk anything all week. _Heh, and what a week it’s been._ Settling herself down, her mind leisurely replayed the highlights real from the past five days. It had started off early Monday morning; her injuries from her dance with Shego having not quite fully healed. Given that his latest base of operations had been in his native Germany and his crimes spread across Europe, Kim had reasoned that there was a good possibility that Dementor would surface there again and wanted to be ready for him. The tabloid journalist had been right on that count, she had been gunning for Professor Dementor after he’d blown that building up and she’d been forced to escape via the sewage pipes. Her mission outfit had been ruined beyond any semblance of dry-cleaning, not to mention her hair. It had taken her two baths just to feel dirty! So, she’d taken the first job that had come up in Europe and jetted out immediately. It had been a total blue milk run. A new ‘supervillain’ had sprouted up in Prague, stole some components and built his first kill-laser (apparently Drakken had a trademark on the name death-ray). Kim smiled to herself at the memory of him surrendering without a fight. _Bet he never expected to run into me on his first foray into ‘super-villainy’._

In all honesty, she’d actually felt a shred of pity for him. Just another brilliant mind who had thoughtlessly cast aside everyone he’d ever known and loved, including his wife and kids, in favour of his research. Only for his university to be destroyed by the Lorwardians, leaving him with nothing. Unfortunately, it was a story being repeated across the globe, with only minor variations. With a complete lack of funding available to get people like him back to doing honest, legal research being the root cause. Regardless, he’d been carted off to jail, while she’d spent the night in a nice hotel.

Next morning, a far more challenging mission had come her way; Dr Divisor. This particular villain had been making a lot of noise across Europe for just over a year and had recently made it onto her hit list. He’d shown up at CERN, looking to steal technology from one of their particle accelerators, so she had leapt at the opportunity to take him down. This one had not been easy. She’d jet-packed into the complex to find that the villain had used his previous gains to bankroll a small army of well-equipped henchmen. It had been quite the workout to take them all down, especially having not been at full strength. Nevertheless, Kim had fought her way into the complex to face down the villain himself.

Absentmindedly, she rubbed her left arm. _Those damn electric darts of his certainly packed a punch. I thought that cramp in my arm was never going to subside. Still, I got him in the end._ And she had. With her left arm hanging by her side in a perpetual spasm, Kim had weaved her way through a barrage of darts, got in close and disarmed him. She’d then turned his own weapon against him and shot him in the back of his neck. Dr Divisor had been completely powerless to stop her carting him out underarm and tossing him like a sack of potatoes into the back of a Global Justice van. Apparently, once GJ got wind of the ‘small army’ kernel of intel, they’d decided in their infinite wisdom to descend for the clean-up. It had made little difference to her, aside from having to again reaffirm her position of wishing to remain independent and refuse a lengthy debrief. On the plus side, she’d recovered Divisor’s weapon and had Wade practically salivating over the prospect of dismantling it. So, she had sent it off to him in exchange for a buck load of favour credit and a free upgrade to her battle suit; should he discover a way to scale down the tech into something easy to integrate.

Afterwards, she’d gotten a lift into Geneva and found another nice hotel. Next morning, with her left arm still partially numb from Divisor’s dart, Kim had decided to take the day off and spend it relaxing by the pool. A full-body massage at the hands of a particularly gifted masseuse had also gone a long way to return her to peak condition. Thursday had then seen her turn down a potentially exciting mission in Australia, all because her instincts told her Dementor was about to surface, so she’d stayed put in Geneva and went shopping. It had been the right call. Come eight pm that evening, whilst enjoying a strawberry daiquiri in the warm evening air beside the pool, Wade had called her on the Kimmunicator with a radio message he’d intercepted; Dementor had been on the move. Not wanting to lose the trail, she’d packed up immediately and went in pursuit of her quarry. Ironically, he’d led her back to the States, where he’d launched operation stinger.

Kim let out a small sigh. It had been a fun week that had seen her apprehend three villains. But despite that… _It wasn’t as fun as last Friday with Shego._ She’d been trying to avoid the subject of the green-skinned woman, last Saturday’s impromptu orgasm and what it might mean for her sexuality, all week. However, despite her best efforts, she’d been plagued by random thoughts such as, _I so wish I was fighting Shego right now,_ _I wonder if Shego likes strawberry daiquiri?_ and _did I just check out that girl in the denim shorts?_ Indeed, it was only by virtue of her missions and a strong desire to even the score with Dementor, that she had been able to stop herself devolving into a full-blown meltdown over the issue. Unfortunately, the good Professor was now on his way off to jail, which meant her mind found itself lacking a distraction.

 _Do I genuinely like girls or was Saturday just some weird, drug-induced fluke?_ She couldn’t answer. While part of her brain seemed open to the possibility, another kept insisting that she liked boys and only boys. A by-product of having been brought up in a community where people like Mr Barkin were teaching sex-ed. Unfortunately, the situation was further complicated by the identity of the woman whom she may or may not like; Shego. Had it been anyone else, save for perhaps Bonnie, it probably would have been easier to comprehend and deal with. _Am I scared of the fact I might be gay or am I scared that if I am, that I like Shego?_ While she liked to think it was the latter, the part of her that kept insisting she liked boys seemed to contradict that theory. _Urgh, this is driving me mad!_ Closing her eyes, Kim took a deep breath. _Ok, how do I figure this out?_ She’d asked herself the same question on Saturday, only for it to lead her stoned self to go and get out the vibrator. _Well… while I most likely wouldn’t have done that sober, it certainly produced a result. And the scientific method does say that repeat experiments prove or disprove theories… God, am I actually considering using masturbation to find out if I like girls?_ She was, for her brain had already begun to debate how many times she might need to do it, whether she had to try it again with codeine in her system and whether or not she had to be thinking about Shego. _Given that I’m not interested in what stoned me thinks, I can probably give the codeine a swerve._ She groaned as she heard her dad’s voice remind her that she could only change one variable at a time. _If I ditch the drugs, I’ll have to think about Shego… on second thoughts, maybe taking codeine isn’t such a bad idea... No, I need to face this head-on. **If** it turns out that I do like girls, I’ll have to deal with the Shego issue anyway, if not then it’s no biggie. Urgh! This is so the drama! _She swallowed another mouthful of her soda. _Ok, so when do I run this little experiment?_

 _“When you get home,”_ a voice whispered inside her head. _“Order some Chinese food, get comfortable and settle yourself down for a night with the vibrator.”_

Kim couldn’t argue. She had no plans for the night or the weekend in general for that matter and the sooner she sorted this issue out the better. _Ok, fine, I do this tonight. I’m not afraid of the truth!_ It was a lie and deep down she knew it, but if she did not try to convince herself it was true, she would get cold feet, put it off to deal with later and then keep finding excuses to avoid it altogether.

“We’re here, Miss,” the driver said, drawing her out of her musings.

Kim stared out of the window and sure enough, they had stopped at the entrance to the airbase. “Thanks,” she replied. Stepping out of the car, she took in a breath of the sweet Florida air. It was time to go home.

##

It was early evening by the time Kim Possible found herself standing outside her apartment building. She’d taken the plane from Florida back to Middleton and parachuted down into a field just outside of town. A waiting car had then brought her home. She preferred using a spot outside of town as a landing zone these days, as anytime she dropped into Middleton itself, someone from the press tended to notice and she’d find a small swarm of them outside her apartment building by the time she eventually got there.

Walking through the double doors into the entrance hall, she went first to her mailbox and then the elevator. Pressing the button, the carriage doors opened and she stepped inside and rode it all the way to the top. _Ok, order Chinese food, shower while I wait on it being delivered, eat and then…_ The bing from the elevator followed by the opening of the doors delayed the last part of her thought process, only for it to be driven completely from her mind when she stepped out into the hallway.

“Monique!” Kim exclaimed her eyes wide at the shock of seeing her best girl leaning against the wall next to her door. Like all her other friends, Monique had gone off to college, having been accepted into Kent State University in Ohio; which had one of the country’s top fashion schools. However, her semester had ended a few weeks ago and so like the rest, she’d come back to Middleton for the holidays.

“What’s up, Girlfriend,” the girl replied with a broad grin.

Without thinking, she quickly blurted out, “what are you doing here? And how did you even know I’d be home?”

“A little computer geek told me that you busted Professor Dementor a few hours ago and would be getting home around about now.”

 _Wade,_ Kim thought with a slight flash of annoyance, _If he figures out how to incorporate those electric darts into my battle suit, he’s so getting one right in the butt!_

“As for why I’m here,” Monique flashed her a wide smile, “I’ve come to make sure my best girl actually takes some time off to unwind and enjoy herself.”

“I’ll have you know I spent a day beside a pool, had a full body massage and went shopping this week!” Kim replied indignantly.

“Yeah, all of which you did **by yourself** I bet,” her friend chastised. “You need to actually spend time with other human beings…”

“Hey, I…” she began but was quickly cut off.

“No, bad guys you beat up don’t count! I’m talking about normal people who you can sit and chat, share a drink or even, heavens forbid, dance with.”

“For your information I…” Kim stopped abruptly. She had been about to say that she had done all those things last weekend with Shego, but quickly decided against it. She doubted even her best girl would understand why she had willingly spent a social evening with her nemesis. _Hell, I still don’t fully understand it._

“…haven’t been out with your friends all summer, even though they’ve asked you like a million times!” Monique decided to finish for her. “Face it, you need to get out more and have some fun, Girl.”

She huffed at this insinuation but knew she wouldn’t win if she chose to argue. _She doesn’t understand that going out and having fun means something completely different to me. A good time to her constitutes going out to a bar or club with her friends, having a few drinks and maybe meeting some cute guy. But for me…_

“That’s why you’re coming out with me tonight. No arguments!”

It was at that point, on hearing her friend’s actual reason for being camped outside her front door, that Kim remembered what she had been planning to do that evening. _I can’t go out. I’ve got an experiment to run! Quick, I need to think of an excuse._ One came to her immediately. “I’m really sorry, Monique, but I promised mom I’d go round tonight. She’s making dinner especially for me.”

Her words did not have the desired effect as her best girl gave her a sly smile. “No, you’re not. I called your mom earlier, just in case you tried to pull that lil’ excuse.”

Kim stared at the girl, eyes wide and mouth agape.

“She said to say hi for her and that she’ll be cooking dinner for you tomorrow, so to be there for six-thirty at the latest.”

“Wait, what!”

“I also had Wade check your calendar, you’ve got nothing planned. And don’t even try pulling that stiff and tired crap tonight. Cos you’re standing right in front of me and look fresh as a daisy.”

 _Damn it! She’s spoken to both mom and Wade and they’ve all decided to conspire against me. Ok, options._ She had none. At least not any she was willing to use. Yes, she could point blank refuse, go inside and lock the door. But that would only serve to alienate her best girl even more than she already had and she hated the idea of doing that. She’d already lost Ron. She was not willing to lose Monique too.

“Want to try another excuse?” her friend challenged, putting her hands on her hips. “Or are you going to come quietly?”

Kim rolled her eyes in defeat. “Ok, fine, you win. I’ll meet you in town tonight. Just name the place.”

“Girl, do you really think I’m dumb enough to fall for that?” Monique said in mock offence. “I’m not going anywhere. Now, you’re going to come inside and go for a shower. Meanwhile, I’m going to go through that wardrobe of yours and pick out something nice for you to wear.”

It took her a moment to realise that her friend thought she’d been trying to trick her. _I wonder how long it would have taken me to realise that I could have bailed on her had she agreed to leave?_ She gave her friend a cute smile, “can’t blame a girl for trying.”

Monique laughed and finally strode over to stand in front of her. “I’ve missed you, Girlfriend,” she said as she gave Kim a hug.

“I’ve missed you too,” she replied and wondered why there had been a slightly sad undertone to her voice.

“Come on, let’s get ready for a night on the town.”

With that, Monique dragged Kim to her front door. It seemed that her investigation into her own sexuality had been forcibly put on ice.


	8. There's someone in my head but it's just me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so chapter two of this three-part update; in which Eeyore has a birthday and gets two presents... lol, only joking. So, last time out, we caught up with Kim, so now it's time to see how Shego is getting on. 
> 
> I should probably warn you all at this point that I've been binging so much Pink Floyd when I've been writing lately, hence why. like the previous chapter, the title of this one is also pinched from The Dark Side of the Moon. Did I mention that you should check it out already? Anyway, this time around it's a slightly altered lyric from the song Brain Damage (There's someone in my head but it's not me) and I thought it captured the way I've been portraying how Shego's mind works perfectly. When not with Dr Drakken, I imagine that she spends a lot of her time alone, which can be slightly problematic from a writing perspective as it means she has no one to talk to (and she's not going to have any sort of meaningful conversation with Drakken). So I had to personify a part of her brain into the little devil's advocate in order to circumvent this issue and it has actually turned out to be really good fun to write.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and I'll see you soon for chapter 9.

It had been a bad week. No, that didn’t even remotely cover it. It had been a fucking shit week! After succumbing to the agony of her accelerated healing and screaming her lungs out on Saturday, Shego had eventually passed out in the early hours of Sunday morning; after the process had finished. She’d then slept until mid-afternoon, but even when she did wake, she had felt exhausted and so spent the remainder of the day in bed, watching films on her laptop. While physically back to normal come Monday morning, her mind had been all over the place, distracted by the persistent nuisance that was her little devil’s advocate and its new favourite subject; Kimmie.

If she had thought going to work would improve her mood, she had been dead wrong. She had arrived in the main chamber of the lair just in time to witness the explosion that had seen the destruction of Drakken’s ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray. To say it had been the spark to set off the barrels of gunpowder would be a gross understatement. Igniting her glow the second the dust had settled, she had started hurling plasma balls at Drakken and yelling at him for being so stupid as to blow up his own death-ray and set the plan back by at least two weeks. However, while her rage had been genuine, the reason for it had been a complete lie. She couldn’t have cared less about the mad scientist’s latest attempt at world domination. No, her anger had stemmed from the fact that it now meant she would have to wait even longer for the chance to fight Kimmie again.

 _Stupid Drakken!_ Shego cursed internally as she crawled through a dusty air vent. _The one time I actually care about his plan being ready on time and he goes and blows it sky-high!_ On Monday, after she had eventually calmed down, there had been no denying how she felt, she desperately wanted to see Princess again. To feel the adrenaline course through her body and the thrill wash over her as they engaged one another in their dance. To exchange witty banter as they tried out outmanoeuvre each other. And…

“Dammit,” Shego hissed through gritted teeth as a sharp piece of the vent sliced through both her catsuit and leg. It wasn’t deep but stung like a bitch. _Drakken is so footing the bill to get me a replacement as I ain’t wearing no patch-job._ She pressed on, the exit vent in sight. With the stupid ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray now a pile of slag, she had been forced to revisit each and every facility she’d robbed the previous week to procure the components needed for Drakken to build a new one. Her attempts to get him to come up with something they could pull off that week having failed miserably. She still had three to go after this one and was seriously contemplating working the weekend so as to hasten the plan and her next encounter with Kimmie. _Once I’m done here, I can hit that facility in Idaho on the way back and save the extra trip._

_“Or you could go home and phone Princess and see if she wants to come out to play. Her number’s still in your cell phone. Or, should I say, Miss Go’s cell phone.”_

_Shut it,_ Shego spat internally at her little devil’s advocate. After she had accepted that she missed Kimmie, the bastard had been relentless in its attempts to get her to pick up the phone and call her. Choosing inappropriate moments, such as now, to interject with its opinions. The entity was a complete and utter personification; she was well aware of that. However, it served as the only way to put up any sort of barrier between herself and her darker thoughts. To distance herself from those she either wished to avoid dealing with or just downright suppress. Unfortunately, like herself, it had a bad habit of doing what the hell it pleased.

_“Look, all I’m saying is, why don’t you try talking to her? She had fun last Friday too. The worst that can happen is that she says no.”_

_I said, shut it!_

With more force than was necessary, Shego wrenched the grate free and shoved it further down the vent. Attaching an electromagnetic clamp to the roof, she turned it on and slid down a thin cable into the dimly lit room below. Wasting no time, she pulled a small canister from her belt pressed a button and gently rolled it a few meters ahead of herself. Even in the deathly quiet of the room, it would have been difficult for any normal person to hear the faint hiss of gas being released into the air. Slowly but surely a thin mist started to fill the space in front of her and revealed the laser grid. _Damn, they’ve replaced it with an updated model since last week._ It wasn’t the first security upgrade she’d encountered on her second tour of these facilities, however, this one certainly posed the greatest problem. Her eyes looked around the walls. _Fuck, this one’s control panel must have been installed remotely._ She hadn’t needed to disable the old one, but her brain was trained to fully assess all the options, before choosing a course of action. _Guess I do this the old-fashioned way. At least it’s only connected to an alarm system and not some friggin auto-turrets or worse, the type that slices you to bits first and asks questions never._

Quickly picking a route through the beams to the pedestal that contained her prize, Shego set off at a run and broke into a cartwheel, followed up by a quick backflip then wall jump. _I can’t believe I still use some of that cheerleading nonsense. Not that those fuckers ever let me on the squad. Even though I was better than all of them._ She mistimed a jump and landed between the wrong set of beams. _Crap, now what?_ Hastily, she re-evaluated her position and had to plot a new course, one that would set her back about two meters. _Focus, Shego. This is no time to get pissed off at how your stupid skin tone resulted in those stupid girls refusing to let you join the stupid cheer squad._ She set off again, pulling off another stunning feat of acrobatics as she made her way backwards so she could move forwards once more. _Urgh, this is so Princess’ thing!_

Shego almost fell over as an image of Kimmie in her old cheerleader outfit surfaced in her mind. _Damn, she looked hot in that. ARGH! This is so not the time to be thinking about Princess. Get a grip of yourself, Shego._ But that was it, her concentration was gone. Images of her rival now flashing through her mind, she looked around, desperately trying to figure out what her next move was supposed to be. _Get out of my mind, Kimmie!_ Then the worst possible thing happened.

_“If it’s got to the stage that you’re thinking about Kimmie at a time such as this, then maybe that’s an indication that you can’t just ignore the issue.”_

_I told you to shut up! I don’t have time for you and I certainly don’t have time for Princess at the moment._

_“Make the decision to call her when you get home and it’ll make the problem go away.”_

_Hell no! I’m a professional thief, not some stupid school kid that’s crushing on some girl! Just shut up and let me figure out a way forward._ Shego closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, all she saw were laser beams, followed by an image of Kim dancing between them. _God, she’s so sex…_

“ARGH!” she yelled in pure rage at her sheer inability to focus.

_“Call Kimmie!”_

“THAT IS IT, I’VE HAD IT!” Shego bellowed as she ignited her glow and shot forwards through the laser grid towards the pedestal.

Alarms blared all around her and from behind, she could hear the sound of the heavy blast doors closing. She didn’t care. They were designed to stop normal humans with explosives, not meta-humans that had super-heated plasma at their fingertips. With a flaming fist, she smashed through the security glass surrounding the computer chip, the shards vaporising before they even hit the pedestal. Extinguishing the hand for a moment, she scooped up the small metal container and slipped it into the pouch on her leg. Raven hair flowing behind her and surrounded in a demonic green glow, Shego stalked back across the room towards the doors; emerald eyes ablaze. Extending her hands to their fullest, she poured her anger and rage into them and created two basketball-sized spheres of plasma.

“ARGH!!!” she roared fiercely as she brought her hands together and fired a single blast straight at the reinforced steel doors. There was a massive explosion of green flames, the noise ripping through the air like lightning through a cloud. Through a thick plume of black smoke, Shego walked unopposed. When she passed through the gaping hole in the blast doors, she could feel the heat radiating from the twisted metal; small blobs of molten steel still dripping from the edges like it were water from a leaky tap. After she had gone a meter or two her eyes caught sight of her first opposition; a group of six men with stun batons. However, even had they been armed with guns, she would not have cared.

“Stop right there!” the one in front commanded, pointing his baton at her. “There’s no escape, now do the smart thing and surrender.” Though he spoke with authority, Shego could hear the fear in his voice. He would still attack, but already knew he was beaten.

Shego said nothing as she advanced. Her rage still needed an outlet and these poor bastards were in her way.

“This is your last warning, surrender immediately.”

She did not respond nor did she stop. The man in front charged at her, his cohorts not long in following suit. He raised his baton and aimed a blow at her head. Shego heard a sickening snap as her block destroyed his limb, but she was not down yet. Before he had even let out a scream, she had stripped the weapon from his hand and smashed it into his face; breaking his nose. He crumpled to the floor like he was made of tissue paper. _One down._ Releasing the stun baton, it fell to the ground but hadn’t even made contact with it when her backflip-kick caught the second assailant in the chin and sent him flying. _Two down._ Like the first, the third tried to charge her, perhaps in pursuit of vengeance for his falling comrades. She slid forward, seamlessly catching his weapon hand in her own and slamming her elbow into his face. _Three down._ Releasing him to fall, she surveyed the other three. Two of them exchanged quick glances, nodded and came at her together, so she did a jumping split-kick, hitting both in the face. _Five down._ The last dropped his baton as she advanced. Shego could smell his fear as he clumsily backed away and fell over. She watched him helplessly try to scamper backwards and when she finally towered over him, she caught a whiff of something else. _Fuck, he’s wet himself!_

The sight of this cowering man, now wallowing in his own piss, was enough to cause her rage to subside. Yeah, she’d been angry and could easily have dispatched those men without causing such severe injury, but they had attacked her first. However, this poor sod was so terrified that he couldn’t even utter the word mercy. She might have been a bad guy and sometimes her temper got the better of her, but she was not a bad person. “Get a new job, you’re not cut out for security,” she said curtly, before turning on her heel and walking out of the vault entrance hall.

Shego encountered no one else as she climbed the stairs back up to ground level. At the top, she emerged out into a long hallway and at its end…

“STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!” a voice enhanced by a megaphone yelled from behind a wall of security guards. Unlike the ones she’d dispatched below, these ones were decked out in riot gear and had combat shields as well as stun batons.

No longer feeling the urge to kick the crap out of something, she rolled her eyes. “Check you wannabe SWAT guys out,” she replied in her usual sarky tone. “Can we just skip to the part where you run off and I get away scot-free?”

In response, the guards moved forwards as one, shields creating a wall much like those of ancient Roman soldiers.

She sighed and pressed a button on a wrist controller. It would take about a minute for the hovercraft to reach her position, but only about half that time for the guards to reach her. _Better make them think twice. Heh, maybe they’ll take the hint and run._ Igniting her glow, she quickly formed two balls of plasma in her hands. The guards continued to approach. _Oh, well…_ Launching the plasma forward in a wave that spread out across the hallway, it hit the shield wall and vaporised it in a heartbeat. Every one of the security team stopped dead, eyes transfixed upon the twisted remnants of shield they still held.

Shego smiled to herself before shouting, “BOO!” and then burst out laughing when the entire squad jumped backwards. A small beep sounded from her wrist controller, telling her that her ride had arrived. “Sorry, Guy’s, gotta dash. Lot’s to still steal and all.” Pressing another button caused an explosion overhead as the platform blew a hole in the roof and descended towards her. She hopped on and uttered a parting, “bye-bye now,” before ascending to the waiting hovercraft above. Sitting down at the controls, she wasted no time in guiding the vehicle away from the complex and off in direction of Drakken’s lair; Idaho could sod it today. She was going home.

##

It was nine pm when Shego finally got home that evening. She’d arrived back at the lair to find that Drakken had already gone off to karaoke night, so had dumped the box containing the computer chip on his workbench and headed straight for the Blackbird. A quick ride home and she was soon back to arguing with her little devil’s advocate. Only every time it spoke now, it brought with it an image of Kimmie.

Back and forth she paced across the living room, cell phone in hand. _I’m not phoning Princess!_ she emphasised for what felt like the millionth time. _Besides, she’d probably just laugh at me before saying no. And there’s no way I’m providing her with entertainment for the evening!_

_“But you don’t know that she’ll say no and as I’ve already pointed out, you know fine well she was down in the dumps last Friday but perked up after you joined her. She misses you too.”_

_Why would she miss me, I’m her nemesis for fuck sake!_

_“For the same reasons that you miss her. And if you don’t believe me, she pretty much said so on more than one occasion.”_

_Did she hell._ Unfortunately, Shego’s own memory was against her on that one. Not only had Kimmie insisted they fight outside of Spritzers on the grounds that, ‘ _If we trash it tonight, they won’t let us back in next time’_ , she’d then said after their fight that Shego needed to, ‘ _tell Drakken to hurry up with that super-duper-hyper-death-ray of his,’_ because she couldn’t wait to fight her again. Shego sighed long-sufferingly, _ok, so maybe Princess did say those things. However, that was before I ruined everything with that stupid date comment._

_“Did you ruin things? Or are you simply scared because she didn’t treat it like a joke?”_

_Why the hell would I be scared?_

_“Because her reply gave you hope. And you know how dangerous that can be.”_

Shego snorted, _do I?_

_“Yes, you do. If you have hope that a relationship can be something more, you can easily follow it blindly down a path that leads only to heartbreak. Or have you forgotten Danni since last weekend?”_

“Don’t say her name!” she snapped as she turned viciously on the spot. _It’s bad enough you’re banging on about Kimmie without bringing that bitch into it._

_“You didn’t always think she was a bitch. In fact…”_

_Yeah, well I made a mistake; a big one…_

_“…because you had hope.”_

Shego’s face twisted up in rage as yet again she allowed herself to be manipulated by her own personal pain in the ass. _Can you just drop it for once?_

_“Danni hurt you bad…”_

_Don’t say her name!_

_“…and you’re scared that it will happen again if you believe your relationship with Kimmie can be more than it is.”_

_“_ I am not!” Shego yelled, her phone slipping from her hands mere moments before they erupted in green flames. She stood seething, her breaths being pulled through gritted teeth, as she waited for the little bastard to say something else, give her any excuse to blow up another part of the room, but no reply came. After a few moments, she allowed the plasma to dissipate. Storming through to the kitchen, she wrenched open the fridge, plucked out a bottle of beer and used a lit finger to slice the top off. She downed half of it in one long gulp, before reaching into the fridge for a second and taking both back to the sofa, throwing herself down into its soft leather embrace.

A full five minutes passed before her devil’s advocate finally said, _“calmed down yet?”_

It was almost enough to ignite her hands and vaporise her beer bottle. _I’m perfectly calm._

_“Good, because I’m not done yet. And remind me that we need to have a conversation about your drinking habits at a later date.”_

_Bite me!_

_“Oh, how I wish I could. However, that’s beside the point. You don’t want to call Kimmie because you’re afraid she’ll say no, but also because you’re more afraid that she’ll say yes.”_

_Will you fuck off and leave me to drink in peace? And stop bringing up an image of Princess every time you say something, it’s pissing me off._

_“What, like this?”_

An image of Kimmie in her cheerleader outfit floated through Shego’s mind. _YES!_

_“No can do. Remember, I’m just a part of you. You’re getting an image of Princess because you can’t stop thinking about her._

For her own sanity and house, Shego realised that she needed to put an end to this, one way or the other. _If I fucking call her, will you let the matter drop?_

_“I’ll let it drop for tonight, but no promises about tomorrow, Cupcake.”_

Shego ground her teeth at having one of her own nick-names for Kimmie used against her. Downing the rest of beer number one, she picked up her phone and scrolled through her list of contacts until she found the one labelled Kim. She stared at the name for a second, then remembered that it had been ‘Miss Go’ that had input the name. _That’s getting changed for a start._ Before doing anything else, she quickly changed the name to Kimmie. Her finger then hovered over the call button.

_“What are you waiting for?”_

_A few hours to pass so that I know she’ll be asleep and won’t likely answer._

_“Yeah and if you do that, I’m going to bug the hell out of you until you relent.”_

_Fine, but when she tells me to take a hike, you never bring her up again._

Even though the devil’s advocate had no face, Shego knew it was grinning at her. _“Aye, aye, Boss.”_

Taking a deep breath, she hit the call button. 


	9. Seeing it as you really are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, ok, so here we are, part three of three and boy what a headache this one gave me. I think I read over and edited this chapter at least four times until I was happy with it. Regardless, it certainly saw more edits, tweaks and alterations than any other chapter I've ever written in a fanfiction. However, while I think all the extra effort was worth it and I got it right in the end, I do have one small regret, which to avoid spoilers, I'll wait until the end to discuss it in more detail. 
> 
> In terms of the chapter title, this one is taken from a Hawkwind song from their self-titled debut album and just fit the theme of this chapter really well. However, I'd probably recommend giving this album a wide berth. While I do quite enjoy it, if you are not already familiar with psychedelic music, it'll probably cause your brain to bleed out of your ears and leave you thinking, what the hell were they on when they wrote that? Lol, if fact, maybe that's exactly why you should listen to it.
> 
> So, without any further delay, here's chapter 9: Seeing it as you really are. Enjoy and I'll see you all at the end.

For the second Friday running, Kim Possible sat in a venue in the Middleton nightlife scene and felt completely alone. The only difference being that this week, several of her friends, including her best girl, Monique, were with her. The place was a student haven and one run by someone she had helped out a few years ago. So, naturally, she and her friends were being served without question. Glumly, Kim cast her eyes out across the crowded room. Two of the girls were out on the dancefloor with their boyfriends and attracting the attention of several envious onlookers, while the third stood laughing and joking at the bar with a guy she’d just met.

Despite her protests, she was wearing the short black dress and strappy heels Monique had picked out for her. She had not liked how much of her marred skin had been on display, so she had pulled on a pair of tights in order to hide her legs, much to her best girl’s chagrin. However, she’d been forced to relent when it came to her hair, which had been put up in a complicated knot and makeup. It was not that she hated the outfit, it wouldn’t be in her wardrobe if she did, it just made her feel somewhat self-conscious. And while part of the reason was to do with how many of her scars it revealed, it was also a trait that she’d noticed slowly developing any time she’d been out with her friends over the past year or so. In fact, it probably went as far back as her breakup with Ron. At first, she’d simply ignored it and then put it down to having had a bad breakup. But the longer it had gone on without any obvious cause, the more she’d tried to hide from it. Slowly becoming more conservative about what she wore to the point that she wouldn’t normally go out in anything other than jeans and a shirt or t-shirt.

“Hey, girlfriend.”

The sound of Monique’s rather loud but chirpy voice rang in her ears and Kim jumped slightly. She felt a momentary flutter of panic as she spun around to see her best girl smiling at her. _Get a grip, Kim,_ she said internally, however, her friend had rattled her slightly. _Even in a busy place like this, people don’t sneak up on me. I sneak up on other people._ She had to take a breath before answering, “hey yourself.”

“This place is really jumping, dontcha think?”

“Umm, yeah, it’s great,” Kim lied; she hated it. Hated the noise, the sheer volume of people, the fact most of them were already wasted and that she’d caught so many guys leering at her. And they were the ones who hadn’t come over to hit on her. Those last to issues had only served to make her feel more awkward. _Their eyes wouldn’t linger and they certainly wouldn’t hit on me if they saw me naked._

“Girl, you’ve been sitting here by yourself all night. You need to get out there, meet some people, maybe find a cute guy to talk to.”

She sighed. Her friend meant well; she really did. In fact, eighteen months ago, had the roles been reversed, Kim would probably have been saying the exact same thing. So why did she feel like the two of them were now on completely different wavelengths? “Sorry, Mo, I guess I’m just not feeling it.”

“Come on, Girl. Where’s that old Kim Possible fire? You’re supposed to be the girl that can do anything, remember?”

Kim gave her a weak smile, “yeah, that’s me.”

“Then get off that sexy booty of yours and come dance with me.”

Before Kim could say no, Monique had grabbed her hands, dragged her to her feet and pulled her onto the dancefloor. Not wanting to cause a fuss, she half-heartedly danced along to the new song that the DJ started to play. When it finished, the look on her friend’s face told her everything.

“Seriously, Girl, who took your mojo? The old Kim had rhythm, you got nada.”

It was at the second time of hearing Monique say, ‘old Kim,’ that the pieces slowly started to slot into place inside her head; like she’d just uncovered the missing piece that had been eluding her for over a year. Freeing her hands, she quickly made an excuse about needing to go to the toilet and bolted; grabbing her bag from the table purely out of habit. She had to dodge around some guy spewing his guts up and swerve around a girl carrying a tray of drinks before she made it to the relative quiet of the restroom. Surprisingly, it was empty. She moved to stand in front of the mirror. The sight of herself all dolled up brought the whole jigsaw together inside her head. She looked exactly like herself… except from two years prior. This was the ‘old Kim’, not the person she was now. While she had not realised it at the time or even given the slightest thought to how it may change her, she’d effectively signed that Kim’s death warrant the day she made the decision to become a fulltime hero. Before then, she’d always considered herself average girl first, teen hero second. Her everyday activities, school, cheer practice and friends being of greatest importance to her. But that day, when she’d stood up from her desk and turned her back on her stack of college acceptance letters, she’d flipped the equation on its head. Going on missions and saving the world had become her everyday, while everything else was now just something tacked on to her life. And standing here, looking at herself in the mirror like this, looking back at the person she had been before, she wouldn’t change her decision if she could do it over again. She liked the new Kim Possible and could not help but feel so far removed from the girl in the reflection. The only problem was, no one understood the new Kim Possible. While her parents were still loving and supportive, they were still far more interested in the ‘tacked on’ parts of her life than her new everyday. As for her friends, they had continued on as normal, not understanding that she had changed. For them, a night like tonight in a noisy, alcohol-sloshed nightclub was fun and exciting, whereas she’d much rather ride a motorbike at break-neck speeds or jump out a plane and freefall for several thousand feet.

 _None of them get me anymore. No one does._ She’d never truly realised it until now, but new Kim’s life had one drawback, she was very much alone; lacking that kindred spirit who she did not have to explain or justify everything to. She let out a deflated sigh, but after a moment a thought crept into her mind, _wait… no, that’s not true. There is someone who gets the new me… Shego._ Like an idiot, Kim heard the voice of her rival say, _“doy, Princess,”_ inside her head. That’s why she’d happily spent the evening with the raven-haired woman last Friday; Shego understood her one-hundred percent. And while her rival could get under her skin like no-one else, at no point had she felt in any way self-conscious. _I understand now. This growing feeling has nothing to do with Ron and our breakup. But everything to do with how I’ve changed as a person. I’ve slowly drifted further from being the old Kim that my friends expect me to be that the more I try to be someone I’m not, the more self-conscious I become._ She thought about this revelation for a moment. About how when she had been with Shego, she’d just had to be herself. _Holy crap, my nemesis understands me better than any of my friends do. And if given the choice, I actually think I’d prefer to spend time with her. This is so messed up and so the drama._ With one last look in the mirror, she decided it was time to do something about it. What exactly, she did not know, but it started with an easy decision, _I’m going home._

Leaving the bathroom, Kim’s eyes scanned the room in search of Monique. While this was not the place for longwinded explanations, she at least owed it to her friend to tell her that she was leaving. She eventually located her back at the same table she herself had been sitting at for most of the night and made a b-line straight towards it. While she had been gone, the DJ had decided to take a break and so now she could hear snippets of multiple loud conversations as she passed through the throng. However, as she drew near to where Mo was stood, the crowds parted to reveal a man with blonde hair standing talking to her best girl. Her eyes widened, it was Ron.

Kim froze, rooted to the spot at the sight of her former best friend come boyfriend. She’d not seen him in eighteen months, not since the night she’d walked out. And she’d only spoken to him once since; a brief phone argument a few days later, at the behest of her mom. Yet now she found herself confronted by the very real prospect of having to talk to him and she felt the urge to run. Just the sight of him standing there, was enough to bring old wounds to the surface and flood her with more pain than she’d suffered after last Friday’s dance with Shego. In between her fingers, she felt a dull vibration coming from inside her bag, which snapped her out of her state of shock. She looked at it for a moment, her brain taking a few extra seconds to figure out that it was her cell phone. Opening it up, she reached inside.

Her fingers had just wrapped around the device when she heard Monique call out, “Kim!” her voice slightly panicked.

She looked up, the phone slipping through her fingers the moment she saw Ron staring at her. _No chance of ducking out now, Kim. You’re going to have to face him._ She took a calming breath and wished she was wearing her jeans. _I can do this. I can do anything, right?_ With a feeling of trepidation, she stepped forward towards the table. Her eyes immediately caught sight of Rufus, lounging in a bowl of peanuts. The naked-mole-rat looked up, his eyes darting between Ron and herself. A noise that sounded suspiciously like, “uh-oh,” escaped from his mouth and he promptly dived under the shallow layer of nuts, his backside poking out.

“Hey, Ron,” she said, keeping her voice calm and trying to suppress the memory of their last two conversations and all the anger that was intertwined with them.

“Kim,” Ron replied curtly, his tone carrying a hard edge that sounded so unlike that of the boy she had grown up with.

They stood for a moment, blue eyes locked onto olive-greens and Kim could see all the pain she had caused her best-friend, despite how he tried to hide it. The fact of the mater was, she knew him too well. _I wonder what he sees in my eyes that my face is trying to hide?_

The seconds ticked by in the most awkward of fashions, the silence eventually broken by Monique. “So… it’s been a long time since the three of us were together, huh.”

“Yeah,” Kim replied, rubbing her left arm and suddenly feeling rather self-conscious again. _I can’t do this. At least not here, not like this. God, why couldn’t I have encountered him while hurtling towards the ground or scaling up the side of a building? At least then I’d have control over the situation._ She turned to look at her best girl. “Mo, I think I’m going to head home. I’m just not feeling it tonight.”

She immediately saw the hurt on her friend’s face and she instantly regretted her decision, even though she had no desire to change it. Regardless, it was clear that Monique had put in a lot of effort to include her and into getting her here and she was pretty much throwing it all back in her face. “Awww come on, Girl. The night’s still young and you still need to loosen up. We can go somewhere else if you want.”

Kim sighed internally. Despite all her good intentions, her friend just did not get it. For her, loosening up would be zooming through the streets on her rocket skates or… _dancing with Shego…. Yeah, that’s exactly what would get me to loosen up right about now._ She was about to open her mouth, to explain that this sort of thing was no longer how she loosened up, when Ron cut in.

“Ditching your friend, that sounds about right, Kim.”

Her gaze snapped over to her former best friend. _He did not just say that!_ He had. All it had taken was one comment and one that had not even been directed at him, for Ron to immediately drag up their breakup. Anger flooded through Kim and all the awkwardness and self-consciousness evaporated. “What the hell, Ron?” she fired at him, “I didn’t even say anything to you and you had to bring up our breakup!”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, Kim,” the boy replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “But sounds to me like someone’s got a guilty conscience if that’s what you took from it.”

 _Oh, hell no! You are not going to guilt-trip me because I was the one who chose to leave._ “I’m sorry for how things ended between us, Ron,” she began. It was true, however, so to was, “but I am not sorry for leaving when I did. That one is entirely on you.”

Ron snorted. “I never made you leave. You left because you wanted to.”

“I left because it had become obvious that our relationship had become non-existent and you needed a reality check.”

“Non-existent? If anything was non-existent, it was you, Kim. You were never there for me to have a relationship with.”

And just like that, they were digging up old ground and cutting into wounds that had long since scarred over.

“I was helping people and saving the world, Ron! You know fine well that the Lorwardian’s left the place in a mess and every super-villain on the planet was trying to take advantage of it. Someone had to stop them.”

“That’s what GJ is there for,” he fired back. “You weren’t doing it to help people. You were doing it because you liked the thrill of it.”

Kim looked slightly stunned for a moment. _He actually knows that I love the adrenaline rush that comes from my missions._

Her brief moment of silence allowed Ron to capitalise. “What, you think I didn’t know that you’re an adrenaline junkie?” He let out a laugh, but it was not the happy, friendly one she knew so well. No, this was something almost foreign to her ears. A cold, humourless tone that contained just a hint of malice. And one she had heard only once before, when her best friend had slowly been turned evil by the Attitudinator. _Is this what I did to him by ending our relationship?_ Her continued silence allowed Ron the opportunity to finish, “seriously? It was obvious, Kim. Every time you came home, all you would talk about was how you had to do this feat of daring or that death-defying stunt in order to complete this mission or stop that villain.”

After her brief pause to consider what she may or may not have inadvertently done to her friend, she quickly found her voice again, “so what if I enjoy my missions? It’s not a crime to enjoy your work.”

“No, but it sure does sucks when you’re out on a date with your girlfriend and she keeps sneaking a look at her Kimmunicator when she thinks you aren’t looking; checking to see where her next fix is coming from.”

Kim knew she could not refute that claim; she was guilty as charged. So, instead, she fired back with, “at least I was actually doing something productive with my life, whilst also making a good living. You quit the job you had and slacked off at college so you could doss about and read comic books, play video games or D&D.”

“It didn’t matter what I did!” Ron had his fists clenched at his sides and he yelled towards the ceiling, “admit it, Kim, I was never enough for you!” and it sounded as though he had been waiting to say it for years.

Kim felt her temper teeter close to boiling over at the sudden reappearance of Ron’s age-old issue. She had known that he had been insecure in their relationship since day one. The 3 am phone calls and his joining the Middleton High football team being just the first in a series of attempts by him to secure his position in it. _I thought he had gotten over all that when we moved in together. In fact, he never even mentioned it the night I left. And we threw a crap tonne of shit at each other that night._ Unfortunately, while she may not have known it then, she did now; he was absolutely right. However, she was not going to admit that without first sharing how she had felt about his insecurities. “I guess it never mattered what I said or did either, you would never have felt secure, never have trusted me when I said I wanted to be with you,” she began, her tone now biting. “But you know what, you’re right, you’re not enough for me.” She waved a hand at the room and all the people in it, now absolutely sick fed up of it and all this bullshit. “None of this is enough for me. There’s a whole world out there to see and so much to do, but you and everyone else are content with coming out to places like this, drinking alcohol or…” Kim threw her hands up in frustration, “…or going to Bueno Nacho every Friday night! It’s so boring!”

On the table, Rufus, who had eaten his peanut shield, looked up at them, made another, “uh-oh!” noise and flipped the bowl over so he could hide underneath it.

A look of horror spread across Ron’s face, as though she had just eviscerated his beloved naked-mole-rat right in front of him. His voice then travelled from calm and controlled to deafening and untameable as he said, “never disrespect Friday nights at BUENO NACHO!”

To anyone else, the sight of Ron raging when his favourite restaurant was brought into disrepute, was probably quite terrifying. In fact, it had even scared Dr Drakken into calling him by his actual name. However, while other people in the room had moved well clear of them, Kim stood her ground. _I am so done with this. It’s time for a few home truths, then I’m out of here._ “Oh, grow up, Ron!” she yelled, succeeding in snapping him out of his Bueno Nacho fuelled rage. “You’re twenty years old, but still act like you’re fourteen!” _And that’s being generous._

If her words had any effect on Ron, it did not show. Then again, he had a habit of being so dense that he never drew the correct meaning from things. However, he was not slow with a comeback. “You think I haven’t changed? Well, maybe you’re right. But I’ll tell you something, Kim, Shego was right, you always were little Miss Priss. You always thought you were better than everyone else, that you could do anything. Well, news flash, Kimmie, you can’t.”

Ron then laughed again in that cold, humourless tone, at what Kim could only assume was a joke he had yet to share. And truth be told, it sent a slight shiver down her spine. _I never imagined that our breakup would do this to him._ However, while she felt a slight pang of guilt, she would do it all over again. When he finally stopped laughing and spoke, she just stared at him in horror. “You’ve spent so much time fighting Shego, yet you’re just like her. I’d tell you to go and hook up with her, but I doubt even she’d be able to heat up someone so frigid”

Had Ron brought up any other subject matter, she probably could have shrugged it off and walked away. Except he had hit onto the one thing that could slice straight through her defences and genuinely hurt her. And it had sounded nothing less than callous and cruel… 

SLAP! In one fluid motion, Kim caught Ron across his left cheek with a stinging blow that echoed all around the room; the other patrons having all stopped to watch the spectacle. _I can’t believe he just threw that in my face. He knows how much of an issue I had when it came to us trying to be intimate… the fact I have an issue being naked._ After the initial burst of anger, a feeling of deep hurt almost betrayal washed over her. Yes, she and Ron were not on good terms, but she would never have imagined that he could or would weaponize something so personal against her. It didn’t take long for Kim to feel a prickling sensation at the corners of her eyes and she knew that her anguish was the only thing keeping her from leaping at Ron and tearing him limb from limb. As a result, it gave her just enough control to make a conscious decision. Either she could give in to her anger and severely hurt her former best friend, or she could choose to walk away. While only taking a few seconds in the outside world, to her, it felt like a year. In the end. she did not know what influenced her decision, whether it was the history between them, the knowledge that he could not adequately defend himself against her or something else, regardless, she turned on her heel and walked away. No one impeded her as she left the nightclub. 

A Molotov cocktail of emotions exploded inside Kim by the time she got outside. Anger, sadness, hurt, betrayal, shame and even the sense of being self-conscious in her own skin. However, lurking behind all of that was a fear of being vulnerable; the very idea of which was intolerable. _I’m Kim Possible, I can do anything._ Tears stung the corners of her eyes and she furiously rubbed at them with her hands to try and suppress the urge to break down and cry. Robotically she turned in the direction of home and picked her way through the throng of people milling around outside the various bars and clubs. _How could he?_ she kept repeating to herself over and over. _Did I hurt him that much that the only feeling he has left towards me is hate? Or am I simply a convenient scapegoat that can be blamed for how his life has turned out?_ She didn’t know. Hell, she had no idea what had happened to Ron after they broke up or what state his life was in.

From somewhere behind her, she had a vague impression that Monique had called out her name, but she ignored it and picked up the pace; knowing the other girl would not be able to catch her should she choose to try and follow. Her mind quickly drove her back to the matter at hand. _Was sex that important to him? Should I have made more of an effort, tried to get over my feelings of being uncomfortable and awkward? Or maybe I should have talked to him more? Told him how I really felt and about why I have issues with my body._ She let out a deep sigh. I wouldn’t have made a blind bit of difference. She could have done all of the above and it would still not have changed the basic fact of the matter; she had not been sexually attracted to him. However, that served only to open up a whole other can of worms, whose names were sexuality, body image and Shego. And in her present state, she did not want to deal with any of those... could not deal with any of those. So her mind did the only thing it could in order to ensure self-preservation, it focused on the emotion that would result in the least pain; anger.

Kim felt her temper boil to the surface as she willingly allowed the fires to rage inside her once more; Ron now safely beyond her reach. _How dare he!_ _The one thing he knew was a major issue for me and he had to go and yell about it in public. I bet it’ll have made its way onto the front pages of the gutter press by Monday._ Unfortunately, while it did a wonderful job of shielding her from all her more painful and potentially damaging thoughts and feelings, she felt a strong urge to turn around and go back to rip Ron to shreds. _He’s not worth it,_ she said internally as she forced herself to stay her present course. However, while she stayed on track, the desire did not lessen any.

A quick fifteen minutes later and she was storming into her apartment; slamming the door shut behind her. Reaching down, she wrenched off her shoes and threw them across the room; her bag too flying through the air until it landed on the sofa. _I need to get away from here._ By the time she reached her workroom, Kim had already wriggled out of her dress and pulled her hair out of the complicated high knot Monique had put it in. Going to the wardrobe, she yanked out a red variant of her normal purple mission outfit, complete with a black leather jacket and pulled it on. She had no idea where she was going, just that she needed to leave Middleton asap.

Booting up her computer, she made a quick trip to the bathroom for some makeup removal wipes and had already started cleaning her face by the time she returned and sat down at the desk. She brought up her webpage and navigated to the list of requests she had been sent. Her eyes scanned the first one on the list and read, ‘Several notable video game creators have gone missing in Japan…’ _perfect._ She hit the accept button and quickly arranged the first ride that would get her out of Middleton. Mission planned and organised, she went to pack her mission bag along with one for overnight. If she was gone longer than that and she certainly intended to be, she’d buy clothes wherever she ended up. Bags packed, Kim headed straight out of the apartment. She never even thought to check her mobile phone, which had been deliberately left in her handbag, to see who had called her before her argument with Ron. All she cared about at this moment in time was getting away from the ‘tacked on’ parts of her life and back to her normal. Back to where she was in control.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, people, listen up. After three chapters, let's all pause for a moment to catch our breath... ok, so is everyone good to go?
> 
> As I said at the start of chapter 9, I did have one slight regret about it and that is the way that Ron comes across at the end of his argument with Kim, as it is very unlike the Ron we all know and love. Throughout the altercation, I tried to convey as much of Ron's feelings in relation to Kim and their breakup as I could, in order to try and explain where he is at in regards to it all. Unfortunately, because we don't get his point of view, I could only go so far. While I could have included his POV, it really is not my style to pick up another character's POV mid-chapter if they are not one of the stories main POV's. Personally, I think it can be quite clunky as the reader will often have no prior point of reference for said character. So, while I recognise that some people might construe Ron as being a complete and utter dick and that it is utter character assassination, please trust me when I say that there is a reason why I portrayed him as I did and that I intend to explore Ron in more detail at a later date. I'm not sure where or when yet, but we will get there eventually. 
> 
> On the subject of Ron, I do feel rather protective of him, as he is often either portrayed in a very negative light or sidelined altogether in a KiGo story. While I completely understand why a lot of authors do this, as they want their stories to focus purely on Kim and Shego, I personally think he is too important a character in Kim's life not to be involved in some capacity. Also, who can resist a cheeky moment with Rufus? 
> 
> Moving on, the next update will probably be a single chapter, however, my feeling while writing it is that it will probably run to about 10K words, so I'm not being too stingy. Also, given that we've just had five chapters of them being apart, I can promise that we'll see Kim and Shego together again next time out. All going well, I should have it finished and posted by the end of the weekend. In terms of the story as a whole, the more I write, the more my plans alter and expand. Do bear in mind that this was only supposed to be a one-shot of Kim and Shego in Spritzers and I don't mind telling you that it was supposed to end with them either fighting, sleeping together or both. So, while I have a rough idea of where I am going, I am giving the characters almost free reign to do what they want and let them guide the story, even if it means I have to revise or scrap parts of my plan as chapters develop. 
> 
> Anyway, that's all from me for now. Thank you for taking the time to read my mad ramblings (and the story too, lol). I do hope you have enjoyed this update and I look forward to seeing you all next time out for chapter 10, tentatively titled: It's What We Do.


	10. Interlude: The Preacher, The Teacher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, listen up people. I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has subscribed, bookmarked, left me Kudos or commented on this story thus far. It really means so much to me that people are enjoying it and showing me so much support. So, this little interlude is for you guys. 
> 
> When planning chapter 9, I had a rather amusing thought about having a certain character appear in it, but I decided against it as there was a) too much important stuff going on and b) the character in question has far more amusing interactions with Ron than with Kim. However, thanks to all the support I've had, I felt inspired to write this short interlude as a sort of thank you to all of you. While I have this story posted on fanfiction too, this is purely for you guys here on the archive. 
> 
> For those of you that are interested, the title of this chapter is actually taken from the title of the third moment of the Yes song, And You And I; the song that leant it's name to the title of this story. (Yeah, they really do have songs that were broken up into different movements like you would find in classical music. But hey, it was the early 70's, the whole band was probably stoned and the music is fantastic.) 
> 
> I know I promised chapter 10 by the end of the weekend and while I have finished writing it, I want to keep hold of it for another day or so as I feel it needs a few tweaks and one section expanded on a little. However, I promise I'll have it up in the next few days. Until then, please enjoy this little interlude: The Preacher, The Teacher. And thank you all once again.
> 
> FYI, just thought I'd better add this, if you are unfamiliar with the term bouncer (not sure if it's used much outside the UK), it is a nightclub security personnel.

Slowly the stunned silence of that hung over the nightclub, like a noxious gas in the air, began to dissipate. Between individuals and amongst groups, conversations struck up once more and everyone slowly went back to there own business. Matters were helped by the prompt return of the DJ and music once more blared; returning the venue to its prior state as though nothing dramatic had happened. Ron Stoppable stood beside a table littered with glasses of varying degrees of fullness and one upturned peanut bowl that hid the sole occupant; Rufus the naked-mole-rat. Robotically, he raised a hand up to his left cheek and winced. He hadn’t even seen the blow coming. _I lost control of my temper, made that stupid comment and then… BAMM!_ He tested his stinging flesh with his fingers, trying to feel his cheekbone. It hurt like hell but not enough to be broken… _I hope…_

After a moment, his brain finally caught up with events. Kim was gone and so too was Monique. He was vaguely aware that the latter had yelled at him and promised to deal with him when she returned. _Yeah, I should probably get out of here before she comes back._ He looked down at the upturned bowl of peanuts. “You can come out now, Buddy,” he said loudly so that the naked-mole-rat would be able to hear him over the increased background noise of the club.

Rufus scuttled out from beneath the bowl and looked up at him in disdain, shook his head and uttered a sound akin to, “uh-uh.”

Ron felt the residual anger from his altercation with Kim flare up and he was about to yell at his beloved pet, about how his ex-girlfriend had deserved what he had said but stopped dead in his tracks when a firm hand clamped down on his shoulder and a voice boomed in his ear, “STOPPABLE!”

He froze. _No, it can’t be…_ slowly, he turned his head and found himself looking up at the imposing figure of his old school teacher. “Mr Barkin?” he asked rhetorically, not quite believing that the man who had hounded him for four years had suddenly materialised.

“That’s Bouncer Barkin to you, Stoppable!” the man said gruffly. “And I might have known it would be you causing trouble in my nightclub.”

After the momentary shock subsided, Ron yelled, “aww, come on, you work here too!”

“Only during the school holidays, Stoppable. All you college kids come home and bring all your wild antics with you. Someone’s got to keep you all in line,” Barkin barked and Ron got the feeling that the man enjoyed getting to ‘bounce’ ex-pupils out of the joint in a way the school board would never allow him to do in Middleton High. “So, why are you causing trouble in my club?”

“Hey, Kim was the one who hit me!” Ron replied indignantly. He then pointed to his left cheek, “see!”

“So, that wasn’t you yelling about Bueno Nacho and causing a scene that drew the attention of everyone in here?”

“That wasn’t my fault!” he yelled in protest. “Kim provoked me by disrespecting Friday nights…”

Bouncer Barkin looked at him with disdain. “A likely story,” he snorted. “Kim Possible is a world hero. Do you really expect me to believe that she started this?”

Ron looked at the stern, unmoving features of his old teacher and found himself stammering much the way he had back in high school when the man gave him that look. “I… but… she…”

“That’s it, let’s go, Stoppable,” Barkin boomed.

Before Ron knew what was happening, the man had seized the back of his shirt and started dragging him away. “Hey! Stop! Let go!” he cried out in protest as he tried to wriggle free. It was no good. Helplessly, he was hauled through the crowd, some of whom turned around to laugh. _Why does this always happen to me?_ From the table, he watched as Rufus hopped down and ran after him, eventually running up his leg and into his trouser pocket. It was only when he heard a door opening and felt the fresher air of the Middleton night, did he realise that Barkin had taken him out the rear entrance. The grip on his shirt suddenly released and he staggered.

“Take a seat, Stoppable.”

Ron glanced around and saw only a collection of wooden crates and metal barrels. “Umm, where?” he asked stupidly, “there’s no chair.”

Bouncer Barkin rolled his eyes and demonstrated by sitting down atop a crate, which groaned slightly under his weight.

“Ohhh,” Ron said as his somewhat unique brain finally understood the situation. He had no reason to sit. He was outside and could easily have just walked away. However, something, perhaps that student-teacher relationship that was so hard to shake, compelled him to stay. So, he sat down atop an empty keg of Coors.

“So, sounds like you have quite a bit of trouble with the ladies, or at least one lady,” Barkin said, his voice still gruff but slightly mellower.

“No,” Ron replied bitterly, “I don’t even have a girlfriend… and I don’t want one.”

Rufus popped out of his pocket, perched himself on Ron’s knee and tutted at him while he shook his head. The naked-mole-rat’s eyes then lit up as he spotted an open crate with the words ‘used peanuts’ stamped on it and zoomed off to investigate.

“Come on now, Stoppable. I served as your guidance counsellor for a full semester while Ms Pinkerton was off due to that creeping fungus infection,” Barkin replied, before giving him a piercing stare that dared Ron to challenge him. “I know when something is wrong with one of my students, current or former. So, talk.”

Ron let out a loud sigh. _Right now, I could be sinking my teeth into a grande sized naco with extra cheese._ However, instead, he opened his mouth and began to talk. “Ok, it all started right after graduation when…”

##

The moon had noticeably shifted position in the night sky when Ron finished, “…and so she slapped me.”

Bouncer Barkin scratched his chin. “Hmmm, sounds like you have quite the problem there, Stoppable. Well, good luck with that.” The big man got to his feet.

“WAIT, WHAT!” Ron yelled in disbelief, springing off his beer keg. “I SAT AND TOLD YOU ALL THAT AND ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY IS, ‘GOOD LUCK WITH THAT’!” His fists were shaking at his side as he cried out, “YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO TELL ME HOW TO SOLVE IT!”

“Easy there, Stoppable,” Barkin replied, completely unfazed by his rant. “I only invited you to talk, never promised any advice.”

Ron looked absolutely livid; his emotions completely raw. All the pain and hurt that was entwined with his relationship with Kim. The foreign feelings of anger and hate that had raged inside him the night their relationship had ended and in the days since. And above all, the knowledge that there was a grande sized naco with extra cheese that he would now never get to eat. “WHY WOULD YOU INVITE ME TO TALK IF YOU WERE NOT GOING TO GIVE ME ADVICE!”

“Because, if we adults told you kids how to solve all your problems, you’d never figure out anything for yourselves.” Bouncer Barkin then gave him a serious look. “Besides, talking about something usually helps you see things in a different light. See that maybe there’s a second side to the coin, if you catch my drift.”

Ron did not catch his former teacher’s drift, his mind now firmly thinking about his empty stomach and the fact that Bueno Nacho was now closed for the night. “Why are you always so unhelpful!”

“Because it’s time you kids learned to help yourselves,” Barkin replied with a grunt. “You know, learn to turn the coin over every once in a while.”

“What on earth are you talking about!”

Bouncer Barkin rolled his eyes. “I’m trying to tell you that Possible has feelings too and that maybe you should consider how your actions might have made her feel!”

Ron paused as his brain tried to comprehend this idea. “Ohhh… and once I do that I’ll…”

The big man shook his head and hit his face with the palm of one of his large hands. “Just try and see things from Possible’s perspective. Then give her a call without flying off the handle at her. Maybe even try apologising to her.”

He looked at Barkin in horror. _Apologise to Kim! Like hell am I apologising to her!_ “Hey, I don’t have anything that I need to apologise for! She’s the one that…” he stopped when he received a firm glare from the teacher come stock counter come bouncer. _Ok, so maybe what I said to her tonight wasn’t very nice…_ he shook his head. _…ok, so maybe it was downright nasty… I don’t even know what came over me._ He sighed. _Aww, man, I’ve got a tonne of thinking to do before I can even pick up the phone…_ A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of having to sort through his feelings regarding Kim… at having to revisit his worst memories; ones that made Camp Wannaweep seem like a stroll through Disney Land. _…and that’s if she’d even take my call…_ Grudgingly, he finally said, “thanks, Mr B.”

“That’s Bouncer B to you, Stoppable,” Barkin replied. “Anyway, I’d better get back in there. I bet there’s a whole host of delinquents just waiting to be tossed to the curb.” A somewhat twisted smile formed on the man’s face as he rubbed his knuckles.

Ron watched his old teacher headed back inside the nightclub, then turned to the crate of ‘used peanuts’. “Hey, Rufus,” he said, spying his naked-mole-rat swimming amongst some oddly fresh-looking salted nuts. “Hey, are those any good?”

Rufus looked up at him and rubbed his swollen belly, “mmm-hmm, yum-yum.”

Ron plucked his friend out of the crate and deposited him on his shoulder. “All right, free peanuts!” he exclaimed, doing a fist pump. He quickly filled every single pocket he could. It had been a bad evening, in which he had somehow managed to make things between himself and Kim even worse, but maybe there was a silver lining to it all. Maybe both of them needed to hurt more before being able to move forward. If not… then at least he had enough peanuts to last a week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you guys think? I found the idea of having Mr Barkin as the nightclub bouncer too irresistible not to do. In terms of Ron, while I could have sat and given an entire blowout of how he feels about Kim and what's happened in his life, I thought it best to leave that until the appropriate point in the main story. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this little interlude. If so, I might do another one in future if I have an idea that I can't squeeze into the main story or a character who I think deserves a little bit of love. In fact, if you guys come up with any ideas for things you'd like to see, please let me know. I'll happily consider anything that might be fun or humorous to play about with, so long as it is not overly long, lol. Anyway, thank you all once again for your support, it really means the world to me. And I'll see you all soon for chapter 10.
> 
> Regards  
> Niaxi


	11. It's what we do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. As promised, here's chapter 10, however, as Ao3 wont let me number the interlude as anything other than 10, lets just call this chapter 11 to save any confusion, lol. 
> 
> As I said at the end of chapter 9, this is only a single chapter update, but it is in excess of 10,000-words. In fact, it's the longest single chapter I have ever written for anything. It was a joy to write and personally, I think it really captures the feel of Kim Possible, but I'll let you all be the judge of that :). Once again, as this story seems to have a habit of doing, I wrote a couple of scenes in this chapter that I had not planned to include. This has also led to a new subplot, which has been in the back of my mind since writing chapter 7, being included and will require at least one chapter to itself at a later date.
> 
> In terms of the chapter title, it is again the name of a Pink Floyd song (yeah, I am still totally binging them while writing), this time from their final studio album: The Endless River. Simply called It's what we do, the song is an instrumental that showcased the band just playing together it that way they did. As such, I thought it was the perfect title for this chapter, as it too showcases exactly what Kim and Shego do on a regular basis. 
> 
> Anyway, enough from the mad; Pink Floyd obsessed author. Thank you all once again for your continued support. I wholeheartedly appreciate it and it really does give me that extra boost to keep writing this story and allow it to grow extra appendages as and when it sees fit. So, grab another naco or chimirito, add a coke and grande size your meal, then sit back and enjoy chapter 11: It's what we do.

“This way, Shego,” the giddy voice of Dr Drakken said as he walked through the open door and past the green-skinned woman.

Shego rolled her eyes as she replied in her most sarcastic of tones, “yeah, because the woman who just snuck into this facility and took out every single occupant without detection doesn’t know where she’s going.” It was no lie. The facility was heavily guarded on the inside, if completely unassuming on the out. Granted, that was the point. Somewhere along the lines, some designer or security officer had cottoned on to the fact that imposing outer defences not only made a secret facility stick out like a sore thumb, but were a magnet for any super-villain looking for a challenge. Thus, this one looked like a simple weather monitoring station on the outside, while inside it was full of now disabled security systems and incapacitated guards. It had taken her hours and here was Drakken strolling in like he both owned the place and that he had done all the work himself. Still, she would have the last laugh this time.

“Shego!” Drakken barked out from somewhere down the multiple flights of stairs, “are you coming?”

“Gonna stay up here and make sure the henchmen don’t screw anything up when it comes to unloading the equipment. Wouldn’t want your ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray to get damaged in transit, would we.” She then quickly changed her tone to a condescending babying one, “because that would make Dr Drakken very upset.”

Even though she could no longer see him, Shego knew that steam was now rising from the top of Drakken’s blue head as a look of infuriation spread across his face. As if on cue, the man retorted, “FINE! But if anything does break, you’re getting the blame!”

“And that’s different from any other time because?” she asked, but did not wait for a response. Stepping outside, the green-skinned woman walked over towards the waiting henchmen and began to direct the safe transport of Drakken’s equipment. _Oh, you would be so pissed off if you ever found out what I’m about to do, Dr D._

Shego leaned back against one of the hover vehicles and pulled a nail file out of the pouch on her leg and began to absentmindedly file the claws on her gloves. After she’d gotten no response from Kimmie when she’d called her the previous week, she had eventually, after a lot of back and forth, come to an agreement with her little devil’s advocate that they would do things her way. It had then allowed her the peace of mind to dot around and steal the last remaining components for Drakken’s death-ray unhindered. To her surprise, the mad scientist had then managed to get it built and operational by Thursday and it had only cost the lives of two new coffee makers and an icebox.

“Hurry up you lazy bums,” Shego yelled as she ignited a hand in glowing green plasma. She smiled to herself as the brief flash of her glow had the desired effect.

When the last henchman trooped inside, she made her way back to the door and closed it tight. She was taking no chances that someone inside would hear what she was about to do, as technically, it probably counted as betrayal. However, Shego did not care. One way or another, Kimmie would show up and Drakken’s plan would go the same way as all the others. What did it matter if she showed up a little early? Carefully, she walked around to the far side of the building. In front of her sat a smaller structure with a large radio tower built on top. _Ok, Kimmie, time to find out how badly you want to dance with me._ She took a few steps towards this second structure. Externally, the facility had few security camera’s, which she’d already disabled, save for one. Making sure that she was well within its range, Shego activated her glow and formed two excessively large balls of plasma. It was complete overkill, but the point was to put on a bit of a show. Effortlessly, she hurled them at the building and watched as the whole thing, tower and all exploded with an almighty, KABOOM! She smirked, _there, that should have been sufficient enough to have been picked up on satellite. However, just in case,_ she turned and looked directly up at the sole active camera. She gave it a sassy smile before shooting a ball of plasma straight at it and turning it to slag. With that, she turned to go and join Drakken inside the complex. _Here I am, Kimmie, come and get me._

##

Kim’s head bobbed up and down in time with the opening guitar riff and her foot began to tap the moment the heavy bass notes kicked in. She was sitting inside the back of an air force transport plane, lost in the music pumping through her earphones. It was going to be a semi-long flight, so she had decided to kick back and enjoy herself. That and the music helped to drive certain unwanted thoughts out of her mind. After last Friday and her disastrous encounter with Ron, Kim had not been back home. She’d gone to Japan for two days and caught the woman responsible for kidnapping the video game developers. The villain’s plan having been to make them design and program a game that people would never be able to stop playing once they started; its working title having been Weeknight. After that, she’d spent three days in St Petersburg stopping someone who claimed to be **thee** Grigori Rasputin and then yesterday in California, taking down a mad business man who had been trying to brainwash people into electing him governor. Now she was crossing the US to investigate the theft of a curios piece of technology that would allow people to permanently change their skin tone.

Kim smiled to herself. _If I bust this villain before midnight, that’ll be four in one week; a new record._ Without thinking, she began to sing along to the song’s chorus. “Oh yeah, she’s a cherry bomb. She’s a bullet in my head. Pull the trigger and I’m dead. Uh, uh, uh, oh, yeah…” She froze as the lyric died on her tongue and an image of Shego filled her head. _No, no, no,_ Kim cried internally, _you’re supposed to stop me thinking about her and everything that’s currently entwined with her, not do the exact opposite._ The song continued to play, but she was no longer paying attention. Her mind now firmly back on her least favourite subject; her sexuality. She’d managed to keep herself so busy with missions this week that her brain had found no time to dwell on it. In fact, she’d avoided it so much, that she was almost convinced that the **incident** from two weeks ago had simply been a result of the codeine.

 _No, I like boys,_ Kim spat as she tried to swat the image of Shego from her mind. _I even checked some out yesterday!_

However, the green-skinned woman simply laughed at her and danced out of reach. _“You’ll have to try harder than that, Kimmie.”_

Kim grit her teeth and scrunched up her eyes as her internalised version of Shego instantaneously changed into her bathing suit. _I’m not interested, so you might as well put your stupid catsuit back on._

_“Oh, come on, Princess. We both know that’s not true. If you just took the time to go home for some alone time, you’d find out just how interested you are. Or, better yet, why don’t you give me a call. Pretty sure you and Miss Go exchanged phone numbers...”_

The sudden beep of the Kimmunicator saved her from her own thoughts. Pulling her earphones out of her ears, she hit the answer button. “What’s the sitch?” she asked when Wade’s face appeared. She’d ran her own missions all week, including the one she was on route to, so knew this must be something unexpected.

“Kim, you’re in serious trouble,” Wade said, sounding slightly panicked.

“What, is something on route to intercept my plane?” Kim asked in slight alarm. She’d not anticipated the tech thief to have even been aware that she was on her way to investigate, let alone send something to try and take her out before she even got there. Perhaps this was going to be far bigger than anticipated.

“No, worse,” the computer geek replied. “My mom just got back from the grocery store, where she ran into yours. Apparently, you missed dinner last Saturday and didn’t even message her to say you wouldn’t be there and she’s not been able to get in touch with you all week.”

Kim reached up and rubbed the back of her neck as a cringed smile formed on her face. “Oops.”

“Kim, what on earth were you thinking???” Wade demanded, sounding as if her mom had personally chewed his ear off about it. “My mom yelled at me for five whole minutes about you and then told me I had to go over to your parents place so I could put your mom in touch with you.”

She winced as she said, “would really appreciate it if you didn’t, please and thank you.”

“Why do you think I’m calling you?”

“To warn me never to come back to Middleton?”

“No, Kim,” Wade admonished. “I’m calling you so that you can call **your** mom, so that I won’t have to go over there and get my head bitten off.”

Kim pinched the bridge of her nose; she’d been afraid of that. When she’d left Middleton after being home for an all-time record low of just six hours, she had been in such a foul mood, that she’d forgotten all about her presence having been requested at dinner by her mother. She’d even deliberately left her cell phone so that she wouldn’t have to deal with anything from home until she next returned. “Is there a third option?”

“I have the air force re-route your plane to Middleton and tell your mom where and when you’ll be getting thrown out.”

She sighed, “ok, what was that second option again?”

“Just call your mom, Kim, “ Wade said long-sufferingly.

“Fine,” she huffed; she hated being strong-armed into things like this.

Then, as though it were simply an afterthought, the boy then said, “oh and FYI, Shego just blew up the radio transmitter at a weather monitoring station.”

“Wait, what!” Kim exclaimed, half in alarm and half in giddy excitement. She’d heard nothing about Drakken or Shego since her night out with the raven-haired woman. “You might have opened with that!”

“I could have,” Wade said slyly, “but then you wouldn’t have taken the thing about your mom seriously and agreed to call her.”

Kim had to take a breath to steady herself and put a lid on her excitement. “A weather monitoring station,” she pondered out loud, “that seems at little low key for Drakken.”

“That’s exactly what I thought, so I did some digging. Turns out, the station is merely a front for a serious government communications centre.”

“That, sounds much more like it. Any idea what the sitch is?” she asked, more out of habit. For once, she had insider information that told her that it was going to be a hyper-super-ultimate-death-ray, or something in that vein.

“Not yet. The only thing I’ve seen on Shego or Drakken was last Friday when she broke into a laboratory and stole an advanced computer chip. Might be a coincidence, but the exact same thing was stolen from them the previous week.”

“Or Drakken’s accidentally destroyed the first one and she’s had to go back and get a second.”

“That was my hypothesis,” Wade agreed. “You want me to send that order to re-route the plane you’re on now?”

“Please and thank you.”

A few seconds passed where all she could hear was the clicking of the computer genius typing. “Ok and… done.” She heard a final hard click that signified that the order had been sent. “Ok, you’ve got just over an hour left in the air, so, Kim…”

“Yes?”

“…call your mom!” with that, the screen switched off.

“Oh, boy,” Kim muttered to herself as she unplugged her earphones from her mp3 player, connected them to the Kimmunicator and popped the buds back into her ears. _She is going to metaphorically kill me right now and then literally do it when I next come home. Hell, I’ll be lucky to make it back into Middleton without her finding out and coming to hunt me down. I’m just lucky I have the option to block all non-mission related calls to the Kimmunicator while I'm working or I’d be dead already._ Scrolling through her contacts list, she hit the one that said mom and dad’s house. _Here goes nothing._

After a few moments the image of her mom appeared on the small screen. “Hey, Mom,” Kim said in the upbeat tone of someone who knows they are in serious trouble, but are trying to circumvent it nonetheless.

“Kimberly Ann Possible, don’t you, ‘hey, Mom,’ me,” her mother replied, a dark scowl on her face. “Do you know how worried I have been about you!”

She cringed and moved the Kimmunicator slightly further away from her face. She raised her thumb and forefinger, “a little?”

While there had probably not been a right response, the one she had just given had certainly been the wrong one. “Young Lady, I have been worried sick about you! I haven’t had a good night’s sleep all week because I’ve been awake with worry! When you missed dinner on Saturday night, I thought you had just forgotten. But when you never answered your phone and I couldn’t get an answer when I went to your apartment, I thought the worst had happened! Then when we heard nothing from you on Sunday and…”

While she still looked like she was paying attention, Kim had tuned out, as her mother continued to give her the third, fourth and fifth degree over how worried she had been. While she had screwed up this time, the point of moving out had been to get away from such over-protective parenting. Instead, after moving into her own apartment, she found herself being lectured more than ever. Granted, part of that might have been because she had prior when it came to missing dinner or something similar without remembering to give her mom a phone call. That and as it stood, she was hardly ever home.

“…the point is, your father and I worry about you and we just want to know that your safe.”

“I’m fine, Mom, honest,” she finally got the chance to reply and held the Kimmunicator at arm’s length, “see, all good.”

“Kim, that’s not the point,” her mom replied firmly. “You’ve been away so much on missions recently, I’m worried that you’re starting to lose touch with normal everyday things. And after what Monique told me about Friday night, I’m more than a little concerned.”

“You spoke to Monique?” Kim asked.

“Yes, I did. I called her on Sunday evening when you had failed to materialise. And she told me everything that happened on Friday night.”

 _Great, thanks a bunch, Monique. The last thing I needed was for Mom to know all the details about that. Especially if you told her that I said normal stuff wasn’t enough for me anymore. Why the hell was I stupid enough to say that out loud to people who just don’t get it?_ “It was nothing, Mom,” Kim lied. “I just got into a tiny argument with Ron. So not the drama.”

On the other end of the Kimmunicator, her mom placed a hand on her hip and gave her the, ‘I’m not buying it expression’. The woman then let out a massive sigh. “Kimmie, you know I love you deeply and its because of that, that I’m just going to come out and say this…”

_Aww, crap! This can’t be good._

“…I am seriously concerned about your lifestyle and the effect it might be having on your mental wellbeing. Not to mention the injuries you sometimes come back home with.”

 _Shit! I knew I wasn’t going to like what she had to say. Now what do I do?_ Kim’s brain raced through her options and what the likely outcomes would be. _If I fob her off now, she’s just going to come at me more strongly next time. However, if I completely refuse to discuss the matter, she’ll just take that as a sign that she’s right and next time I go home, I’ll find an entire intervention waiting for me inside the apartment. Damn, I’m going to have to placate her with something._ “Mom, there really is nothing to worry about. I’m perfectly fine, great even. However, if it’ll put your mind at ease, why don’t I come around tomorrow afternoon and we can talk. I’ll even stay for dinner. How does that sound?”

The expression on her mom’s face clearly read, ‘I’m not satisfied, but at least it’s a start’. “That sounds like a super idea. However, I want your word that you won’t cancel or try and duck out early because some president or prime minister requires your assistance in finding a stolen nuclear warhead or any other such nonsense... regardless of how annoying your brothers might become”

“How big a nuke are we talking?”

“Kim,” her mom replied, giving her a no-nonsense look. “I only want you to agree if you promise that you’ll be there and you’ll stay. Family is still important, even if you’re a fulltime hero.”

She sighed internally. _If it’s a choice between an afternoon and evening putting up with the Tweebs or a Possible intervention, I’ll take the…_ she thought for a moment, … _actually that’s a tougher call than I’d like it to be._ In the end, Kim went with, “ok. I’ll come over Saturday afternoon and stay at least one hour after dessert, I promise.”

“Make it two and you’ve got a deal.”

Kim was about to open her mouth to say, _“no way am I putting up with the Tweebs for that long,”_ but quickly found herself at the mercy of the infamous puppy-dog-pout. She rolled her eyes, not even bothering to try and fight what would be a losing battle. “Ok, fine. I’ll stay for at least two hours after dinner. Just stop it with that look.”

Her mom gave her a warm smile. “I’ll see you then, Honey. Now, be careful on whatever mission you’re heading off on.”

“I will,” Kim replied as she returned the smile. “Love you.”

“I love you too, Kimmie.”

With that, the call ended.

 _Ok, so that could have gone better. Although, on the other hand, it could have gone a hell of a lot worse._ She popped her earphones back out her ears, removed the jack from the Kimmunicator and stowed them away in her trouser pocket beside her mp3 player. _However, I’m going to have to watch what I say tomorrow or I might find myself facing that intervention regardless. Urgh, this is so not what I need right now._ Kim took a few steadying breaths. _Ok, let’s put this aside to deal with tomorrow. I’ve got a Drakken take over the world plot to rumble… and Shego to fight._ That thought brought a smile to her lips. _I am so going to kick her butt!_

Kim closed her eyes and sat in silence for the remainder of the trip, slowly emptying herself of all unnecessary thoughts and setting herself firmly in mission mode. Her latest dance with Shego was almost upon her.

##

Shego reclined in one of the many computer chairs, her feet resting atop a control console. She had her nail file back out, as she was want to do in such situations and was humming playfully to herself. After one of the complex personnel had unexpectedly awoken and annoyed Drakken, she’d been forced to help the henchmen round them all up, ferry them to the surface and shove them inside the dummy weather monitoring station herself; lest she want anyone to see the destroyed radio tower.

“No, you kretinous nitwit!” Dr Drakken yelled frantically as he darted across the room to stop yet another disaster befalling his latest and greatest death-ray.

“Geez, Dr D, if you don’t want them to drop it, why don’t you try, I don’t know… paying them properly,” Shego said offhandedly.

“Shego… this…” Drakken said as he caught the end of one of the death-ray’s power modules and struggled with its weight, “is… no… time…” the mad scientist stopped abruptly as he had to lower the component to the floor. He panted for a few moments then, very quickly, as though making up for lost time, yelled, “this is no time for your sarcastic commentary!”

“Hmm, seems to me like the perfect time for my sarcastic commentary.”

“You know you could always get off that idle backside of yours and help!”

“Oh, but it’s much more fun watching you men struggle with all that heavy equipment.” A wicked smile spread across her face as she stood up and strutted towards Drakken and the two henchmen who had been helping to lift the power module. “And besides, a dainty lady like myself would never be able to lift something as heavy as,” in one fluid motion, she reached down, picked up the component and placed it atop one shoulder, “this.”

Shego savoured the wide-eyed looks that spread across all three men’s face as she walked towards the death-ray, then started to laugh when Drakken foolishly tried to save a shred of their masculine pride by saying, “we carried it most of the way!”

In response, the green-skinned woman tossed the power module into the air, jumped up after it and then kicked it into its housing on the death-ray. She landed gently to a collection of stunned looks from every single person in the room. Casually she walked back to her chair and sat down. “Now, anyone else want to interrupt my me time?”

Not a single voice said anything.

##

 _Three, two, one…_ Kim leaped out of the rear of the plane and hurtled down through the air like a human missile; the adrenaline coursing through her veins. There was a reason why skydiving ranked amongst her favourite thrills and she tried to do it at least once per week, if not more and this was it. Those few minutes where you hurtled back to earth, with the wind rushing over you as you played chicken with your very own life; waiting until the last possible moment to pull… she yanked on the cord and her chute exploded out behind her and rapidly slowed her descent to the point that any observer moving relative to her would think she’d shot back upwards.

Eyes now fixed on her target; Kim did her best to guide herself in as close as possible. Unfortunately, it had not been a HALO jump and so in the wind, the best she could manage was roughly about a quarter mile away. Touching back down on the ground, she unclipped her harness, pulled off her helmet and made a b-line for the smallish building that was ahead of her; the other now a pile of rubble and twisted steel. _It seems Wade was right; this weather station really does look unassuming. There only appears to be a simple wire fence protecting it. Although, I guess that’s supposed to be the point. All the security must be underground. However, I bet it was straightforward for Shego to circumvent, given that none of the alarms got tripped. Though why go to all that trouble and then blow up the superfluous radio tower? Unless… No, Kim, focus. You’re on a mission to stop Drakken, only deal with Shego when you have to._

Kim reached the perimeter fence and saw the hover crafts on the far side of the larger building. _Guess this latest death-ray took a lot of manpower to shift._ Sliding the screen of the latest Kimmunicator model up, she pressed a few buttons and soon had a holo-image of the building’s schematics before her; showing both the weather station and the complex below. It didn’t take her long to find the hidden door on the far side of the building, however, as she zoomed out, she found the ventilation tunnel that led from the underground complex to the surface a hundred meters beyond the other side of the fence. _I bet that’s how Shego got in and I guess it’s how I’m getting in too._ At the thought of her rival, she had to force her brain to stay on point as she carefully snuck around to the far side of the building. It transpired that there was little need for such caution as it seemed Drakken had taken a leaf out of the designer’s book and not bothered to post any guards outside. However, a glance inside the faux weather monitoring station revealed what must surely have been the collective complex personnel; all unconscious.

It didn’t take long to locate the vent. Using the grapple, Kim gently lowered herself down the shaft until her feet touched down lightly on the metal below. _That drop must easily have been about one-hundred feet._ Crouching down, she began to crawl what she already knew would be about fifty meters, however, it was by no means the furthest she’d ever had to travel through an air duct. When she reached the first vent, she paused and brought up the schematic again. It had become routine for her to analyse her own intel while on a job now. After she had turned pro and side-lined Ron from most missions, she’d decided it was time she learned to do a lot more by herself. So, she’d done the unthinkable and asked Wade for the Kimmunicator manual and some dummy systems to practice on. It had taken a full week of reading, failure, more reading, explosive failure and finally a complete re-read of the manual, but in the end, she’d figured out how all the Kimmunicator’s systems worked and what to use them for. She had then traded a stack of villain tech she had acquired for Wade to design and build a new model with a slew of new features that she’d wanted added. A month later and she’d had to repeat the whole process. Ultimately though, it had been so worth the effort.

Looking at the map, Kim deduced that with the size of the hover vehicles Drakken had brought, he was most likely assembling his death-ray in the main dome. _Ok, so there are two vents that will allow me to drop down right on top of him. However, I bet Shego is with him and I’ve not even had the chance to warm up yet. So, better to take the scenic route._ Carefully, trying to minimise the noise as much as possible, she lifted the grating up and slid it to the side. She waited, acutely aware of footsteps coming from the corridor below. _Wait for it…_ she could feel the excitement begin to build as the clueless henchman below drew closer… _now!_ Kim shot down out of the vent and landed a kick straight on the man’s head; he was KO’ed before he even hit the deck. _One down._ Landing perfectly, her eyes shot from side to side, taking in the fleeing henchman to her left. Automatically, her hand reached for the grapple. Firing a well-placed shot, she caught him around the ankles and hauled him to the ground. Diving forward, she reached him just as he hit and gave him a firm whack to the carotid artery; rendering him unconscious.

Kim smiled to herself as she holstered the grapple, _two down._ Making her way around the circular corridor, it was not long before she encountered another pair of goons. Muscular and mean looking, they charged her with stun batons. The first brought his weapon down in a diagonal slash. She blocked high and slipped under his arm; retaining her grip on his wrist. She then twisted the man’s arm behind his back as the second descended. Without having to pause for thought, she chambered her leg and caught him square in the chest with a fierce back-kick. She did not even need to look to know he had flown through the air and crashed into the wall; as she delivered a blow to the first man’s neck. _Four down._

A full circuit of the ring revealed one final pair of henchmen. She sent them both to the floor with a low leg sweep and a rising back kick respectively. Springing atop them, a twin punch simultaneously rendered both unconscious. _Six down._ Kim straightened up and glanced at the Map again. _Ok, time to make an entrance._

##

Shego sat on her perch beside one of the room’s many control consoles; a newspaper in her hands. Unsurprisingly, given that it was a piece of gutter trash, it contained an article about Kimmie. It was largely an embellished version of the same story that had appeared in one of the local Middleton papers on Monday morning; about her slapping Stoppable while in some bar last Friday night. She paid it no heed, having already read the original story and taken from it the only relevant detail; that the altercation had happened around about the time that she herself had tried to phone the girl. Unfortunately, the discovery had only led to her little devil’s advocate insisting that Kimmie had not blanked her but simply been too busy to answer. She’d tried to suppress it, however, Shego could not deny the small spark of hope that had reignited after having read the article. A dangerous hope that they could perhaps be more than just enemies.

 _I don’t do friends,_ she said to herself for the umpteenth time this week. _I don’t want or need them. I’ve gotten by perfectly well these past six years without any. All friends do is complicate things, make life difficult and…_ internally Shego threw a plasma ball at the emerging image of a blonde-haired girl and watched it erupt into green flames. Tossing the newspaper down, her eyes travelled up to the upper walkway. She frowned when a count of the patrolling henchmen revealed one was missing. Her gaze lingered, watching… waiting. Then it happened. One second, she could see the head of a walking henchman above the metal panelling, the next he vanished. Her frown morphed into a smile, _looks like you got my message… Kimmie._

“Yo, Dr D, is that death-ray setup yet?” she called out loudly.

Drakken turned to look at her and rubbed his hands with glee. “We’re just about to begin powering it up. In just over one hour it’ll be fully charged and I’ll…”

“Let me guess, fire it at a complex series of mirrors that are mounted on multiple satellites orbiting the earth. Allowing you to target anywhere in the world.”

“Why do you always have to ruin the explanation of my evil schemes?” Dr Drakken fumed; his fists clenched, steam once more rising from the top of his blue head.

“Because I cut to the chase and save us all half an hour of you monologing,” Shego replied offhandedly. “So why not just do it at the lair? Why go to all the trouble of carting that death-ray, which is obscenely large by the way, all the way here?”

The man turned to glance at his latest creation. “Do you really think so? I mean I wanted it to look impressive, but not garishly so.”

She watched as another henchman disappeared from view and said, “you know what they say, the bigger a mad scientist’s death-ray, the more he’s compensating,” making sure her voice was loud enough to travel to the upper gantry.

Her comment had the desired result as Drakken yelled, “I AM NOT COMPENSATING FOR A LOW IQ! THAT TEST WAS UNFAIRLY BIASSED TOWARDS VERBAL INTELEGENCE AND PATTERN RECOGNITION!”

“You’re just mad because I scored higher than you did,” Shego sniggered. “So, you were explaining why we’re here.”

The look of infuriation on Drakken’s face quickly changed to one of over-enthusiasm. “It’s quite simple, Shego. With this communications centre, I can hijack the wavelength of every television station in the world and broadcast my demand that every nation surrenders to me immediately, or I’ll lay waste to their countries with project ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray!”

“You might want to shorten that name a little, Dr D. Just a suggestion.”

“I have no time for your suggestions, Shego,” Drakken replied offhandedly, “I’m about to make my first appearance to my new subjects and I want to make a good first impression as their new overlord.”

Shego watched as a pair of henchmen rolled a video camera into view and Drakken began to brush his hair and straighten his double-breasted coat. Internally she burst out laughing. _Oh, Dr D, if only you knew that at this very moment in time, Kimmie is taking out all your henchmen. Boy you are going to look like such an idiot when she blows up that death-ray. Still, with an hour before it’s charged, I’ve got plenty of time to have a proper fight with her._

Shego watched in amusement as the last henchman on the lower gantry was shoved over the rail. The man's yell drew the attention of both Drakken and the two henchmen who were operating the camera. And following the hapless soul over the edge was…

##

“KIM POSSIBLE!” Drakken yelled in alarm as the hero landed on the ground beside the now unconscious henchman.

Shego let out a light laugh. _Sometimes I think your parents named you just so I could amuse myself at Dr D yelling that humorous pun every time you show up._

“Always the tone of surprise, Drakken,” Kim replied with a smile. _But that’s not just surprise I hear in your voice. You’re genuinely shocked that I’m here so soon._ Her gaze drifted over to where Shego sat with her feet resting on one of the control consoles.

The two woman’s eyes met, olive-green’s locking onto emeralds and a brief wordless conversation passed between them.

_“I see you got my invite, Kimmie.”_

_“Wouldn’t have missed it.”_

Drakken, having recovered from the initial shock of Kim’s appearance, threw his arms up in frustration. “How can you be here so soon?” he demanded. “I’ve not even made my TV appearance yet and operation ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray hasn’t even warmed up yet!” The super villain’s tone then changed to one that sounded much like that of a child having a temper tantrum, “it’s not fair!”

Shego bit her lip as she waited for Kimmie to answer, hoping the girl wouldn’t take the opportunity to drop her in the shit.

Kim smiled sweetly at Drakken. _He has absolutely no idea that Shego blew up that radio tower. Guess I should probably keep it that way._ “I was on a plane from California to New York when I got a tip that you were up to no good. Then for some strange reason, the pilot suddenly got these orders to change course and kick me out once they were above some weather monitoring station. So, here I am.”

Then to the surprise of no one in the room, Drakken bellowed, “SHEGO, GET HER!”

The hero’s eyes once again met with those of the super-villainess.

_“Time to dance?”_

_“Let’s.”_

Shego sprung up off her chair and into the air, did a front-flip and landed a few meters in front of Kimmie. “Go have your big global TV debut, Dr D, I’ll keep Princess occupied.”

Kim watched as Drakken turned his back on the pair and walked over to where two henchmen were waiting with a TV camera. “Seriously, you want me to let him transmit to every TV on the planet?” she said, keeping her voice low enough so that only the raven-haired woman would here.

“It’ll keep him busy,” Shego replied with a smile, also keeping her voice down. Kimmie had done her a favour by not ratting her out to Drakken and she had no intention of squandering it because she’d spoken too loudly. “Besides, you’ve got to give him something. You’ll be blowing up his death-ray in an hours’ time.”

Kim shook her head as she pinched the bridge of her nose at the thought of Dr Drakken having control of the world’s airwaves. However, “did you say a whole hour?”

“I certainly did.” The grin on the green-skinned woman’s face widened at the prospect. _It’s been two weeks since our last encounter and such a wait royally sucks. So, I intend to make every moment of this one count._

Kim immediately felt a rush at the thought of having a whole hour to duke it out with Shego before she needed to jump in and save the world. _Two weeks ago was awesome, but I bet we can both turn it up a notch or two._ “Bring it on!”

“Gladly, so long as my dive doesn’t end up on global TV.”

“Who say’s I won’t have KO’ed you by then.”

“Me!” Shego barked and she leapt in for the first attack. Closing straight in to hand range, she fired off a rapid combo of front-fore-fist-punch, reverse-punch, left-knife-hand, right-palm-heal and finished with a spinning-back-fist.

Kim blocked the first barrage of techniques and then ducked underneath the back-fist. She returned fire with an uppercut as she straightened up and followed it with a reverse-punch which she feinted into an elbow strike. However, before it made contact with Shego’s face, she was forced to drop it in order to block a punch aimed at her ribs.

Shego quickly brought a knee up to catch Kimmie’s dropping elbow and knocked her opponents arm to the side. At the same time a back-fist aimed at the girl’s other arm forced it off centre too. _Got you now, Princess._ With her rival’s guard blown wide open, she used a twin-palm-heal strike, aimed at the girl’s shoulders, to put enough distance between them so she could jump up and hit her square in the chest with a two-footed-front-kick.

Kim flew backwards under the force of the blow and was lucky to stay on her feet. _Damn, she means business today. However, she’s probably had a day or so to mentally prepare herself for this; I’ve only had two hours. Going to have to step it up, Possible._ Sucking in a breath, she straightened up to see Shego smiling wickedly at her as she leisurely closed the distance. _Ok, so she’s at least not going for the jugular straight off the bat. Heh, then again. If we did that, one of us might kill the other at the first opening and that wouldn’t be much fun at all._ “That the best you got?” she asked as she lifted her head and tossed her red tresses backwards; giving her opponent a sweet smile.

It had been a pure point scoring exercise on Shego’s part. Last time they’d fought, Kimmie had scored first blood, so she had been determined to do so herself this time. _Princess is going to immediately up her game though, I’ll need to be careful._ She watched the girl straighten up and toss her mane. _Damn, she’s hot… God dammit, focus, Shego._ The smile she then received caused a slight spark on infuriation. Her rival getting under her skin in a way only she could. “You want more, Kimmie, come and get it.”

“Please and thank you,” Kim replied brightly before lashing out with a front leg turning-kick, hook-kick, turning-kick combo. She hit nothing but air. Her opponent made to duck inside, except she was wise to it and swept her leg back across in a crescent-kick. Using the momentum gained, when the foot landed back on the ground, she used it to spring up into the air and launched her four-front-kick combo to overwhelm Shego’s guard. The second Kim’s first foot hit the ground; she drove a twin-fisted-punch into her rival’s gut. _Gotcha!_

Shego stumbled backwards, having had the air forcibly punched out of her. She doubled over slightly as she gasped for breath. _Fuck, Kimmie came back at me hard! She is so going down harder._ Between locks of her thick raven-hair, she could see Princess advancing on her at the same slow pace she herself had used moments prior. _Good thing we’re on the same wavelength or this could have been over before it really got going._ While her breathing had quickly returned to normal, she held her staggered position. _That’s it, Cupcake, just a little closer…_ The second her adversary was within range; she dropped into a forward roll and shot her legs out as she used her hands to propel herself forwards and up.

Kim saw the attack coming with only just enough time to back away from it. However, while it happened in a heartbeat, the time it took for her to evade and reposition her guard was enough for Shego to land on her feet and go on the offensive. Front-snap-kick, double-turning-kick, outward-axe-kick, she rattled off the techniques without her leg ever touching the ground, except her opponent was equal to them and blocked the first three before stepping around the last. Kim then returned fire with a double turning-kick-reverse-turning-kick combo, which Shego was forced to evade. Both took a step back for a split-second pause before reengaging in a front leg dual. The feat of balance displayed by both something to behold. Unlike their previous fight, it was Kim who emerged as the victor this time; a turning kick knocking Shego’s axe kick off course and sending her foot to the floor. They backed off again.

Kim saw the look of irritation on her opponent’s face and smiled. Childishly, she stuck out her tongue, pulled down on her left eyelid and made a, “neh,” sound. It had the desired effect.

 _Oh, hell no, Kimmie!_ Shego lunged forward and set her opponent on the defensive with a continual flurry of kicks.

Back and forth the pair went, completely oblivious to the fact that they had passed behind Dr Drakken and thus ended up in the background of his TV shoot several times. Indeed, the man himself had no clue, at least not until Shego yelled, “Damn you, Kimmie,” and received a reply of, “you’d better make that a double damn, Shego.”

Drakken turned around and glared at the pair. “Will you two knock it off!” he said irately, his fists clenched at his sides.

Both Kim and Shego stopped mid movement and turned to look at him.

“I’m trying to make a good first impression with my new subjects and all anyone can hear is the two of you are brawling in the background!” He then jabbed a finger out of shot. “Go fight someplace else!”

Kim and Shego smiled at each other and shared a wordless look that said, _“God, he’s narky today. Did he forget to drink his coco-moo?”_ Their eyes then travelled upwards to the gantry above.

“Upstairs?” Kim said as she whipped out her grapple.

“Sure. Doesn’t matter where we fight, I’ll still beat you,” Shego replied and ignited her glow.

“Race you!”

Kim shot her grapple upwards at the same time as Shego built up two balls of plasma. Simultaneously, the pair shot towards the ceiling and landed on the lower gantry. Their feet touched down at the exact same time. The walkway was narrow and so lateral movement would be severely restricted as would the radius for kicking. They both slipped into a guard and were back at it in mere moments. It was a furious fight of close-range hand techniques as they pushed each other forwards and backwards along the metal gantry. Eventually it devolved into a lightning quick game of locks and holds, as both parties tried to force the other into one or the other and make it stick. Eventually, Kim caught Shego’s arm and forced it into a goose neck hold.

“Give up, Shego, or your arm will break in at least two places,” Kim said with a gleam of triumph in her eyes.

Shego tried to wrench her arm free, but her rival’s hold held firm and she became acutely aware of pressure points where her bones would snap, should the girl be inclined to exert any more force. She shot Kimmie a glare, which quickly morphed into a smile. “I’m willing to wager you won’t do it, Princess.” In a flash, she seized Kim’s t-shirt with her other hand and threw herself backwards; pulling them both to the ground. As anticipated, the girl immediately let go of her wrist and with a wide grin on her face that said, _‘sweet revenge’_ , Shego vortex threw her opponent along the gantry. _Heh, typical hero, she won’t seriously injure me unless she absolutely has to._

Kim flew through the air, with the sum total of her thoughts being, o _h, shit! This is going to hurt!_ With no control over her landing, she crashed down onto the metal walkway and would probably have rolled several feet had her legs not hit against the side walls. _OWW!_ She lay there on her front for a few moments as she tried to regulate her breathing and take stock of her injuries. This weekend it would be her right-hand-side that suffered the mass amount of bruising. Only she knew for certain that at least one of her ribs had just broken. Yet, despite this, she began to laugh. _Shego knows me too well. She knew I’d never inflict that serious an injury on her. Damn me and my moral high ground!_ With the adrenaline keeping the bulk of the pain at bay, Kim picked herself up. _Ok, note to self, two weeks is far too long to go without doing this._

By the time Kimmie had started to laugh, Shego was already back on her feet and ready for the next assault. _Heh, guess she’s figured out that I knew she’d let go._ She took the opportunity, while she had it, to glance at the death-ray. _Damn, that stupid thing must be about three quarters charged. Where the hell has the time gone?_ The realisation that there fight was reaching its closing stages served only to remind her that she missed dancing with Kimmie at least once a week and that, despite how much she had tried to deny it, she actually enjoyed spending time with the girl.

Doing a backflip to indicate that she was alright, Kim exited the narrow walkway that crossed the diameter of the room and stood in the far wider space of the gantry that ran around the circumference. She indicated with her hand for Shego to come join her as her eyes took note of the large power indicator on the side of the death-ray. _Crap, I’m going to have to end this soon and take that thing out or Drakken might actually blow something up when no one surrenders to him._ It was then that she felt a strong pang of sorrow. _I don’t want this to end. I actually really do enjoy spending time with Shego._ She thought for a moment, an idea forming in her mind. However, she had no time to decide whether or not it was good or bad, as her rival descended upon her with a flying-side-kick.

Shego flew through the air and over the top of Kimmie’s head; who had ducked beneath her at the last second. _Shit!_ She landed on the ground and had to spin around and hastily duck the turning kick that came her way. However, it was only a temporary reprieve and she could do nothing against the front-snap-kick that caught her in the chin and sent her sprawling backward. _FUCK, THAT HURT!_ Springing back to her feet, she eyed her smiling opponent. “Ok, Kimmie, you want to play rough, fine. Let’s go.” Her hands then erupted in green flames.

“Oh, you’re getting your glow on. What’s the matter can’t beat me without it?” Kim replied and adjusted her stance. Facing Shego with her glow powers active was a very different prospect. While her Wade designed gloves still allowed her to block incoming attacks, the rest of her arms and body were vulnerable to the intense heat of the green-skinned woman’s plasma. On more than one occasion, she’d received a nasty burn because she’d not been quick enough or made the wrong move.

“You’re going down in a ball of green flames, Cupcake,” Shego snarled, although there was a playfulness about her tone.

“Bring it, Firefly.” Kim had to immediately dive out of the way as no sooner had the words left her lips; a ball of plasma was shot right at her. She was given no respite though as her rival continued to rain green fire down upon her. Every time she managed to get a foot closer, Shego drove her back. _Guess I’ll just have to go over then._ Whipping out her grapple she fired it at the gantry above and shot up into the air. Green orbs of plasma followed her, but none got close enough to hit her. Rocketing over the top of the upper crosswalk, Kim twisted her body around in mid-air as she quickly retracted the grapple. Firing a second shot back at the same target, she swung back under it at speed.

Shego lost track of Kimmie as she soared overhead and struggled to re-acquire a target lock. To late did she finally locate her, just before the girl’s boots hammered into her chest and blasted her across the gantry. _FUCK!!!!_ Crashing down hard, she felt a rib break, but completely ignored the pain. Flipping back onto her feat, she reignited her hands and charged at her adversary. She re-engaged her with a flurry of plasma fuelled punches, but failed to make contact as Princess ducked and dodged her way out of trouble. “Hold still, dammit!”

Kim jumped backwards, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before one of Shego’s blows found a target. “Not a chance,” she shot back as she went on the offensive, trying to keep her rival at kicking range; her Wade designed boots also plasma resistant. Continuous-axe-kicks were dodged and a jumping-front kick blocked, before a turning-kick just flew over the top of the green-skinned woman’s head.

Having ducked Kimmie’s kick, Shego swept in low and scoped the girl’s grounded leg. She rose as the red-haired vixen crashed to the floor. She fired a blast of plasma aimed at her chest, but Princess had already anticipated this and rolled out of the way. Driving her fist downwards, the raven-haired woman’s next punch went straight through the gantry floor as it liquefied the metal instantly upon contact. By the time she had wrenched it free, Kimmie was back on her feet.

“So,” Kim said as her idea from a few moments ago returned to her. She had to evade a punch before she could continue, “how about after I blow up that stupid death-ray, you and I go out for a drink?”

The question, having come right out of the blue, caught Shego off guard and with more force than any of the blows Kimmie had landed thus far. Her eyes widened and she froze. _Did Princess just ask me out for a drink?”_ Unfortunately, she never got to ask if she had heard correctly.

Kim, still in full combat mode, saw the hole materialise in her opponent’s defence and before she could stop herself, acted on instinct. Hitting out with a fierce side-kick, she caught Shego in the chest and sent her tumbling backwards towards the gantry rail. Unable to process what had just happened, the green-skinned woman crashed against the metal barrier and her momentum sent her tumbling over it.

Kim froze for a moment. _Shit! I didn’t mean to do that._ She then darted forward, intent on seeing where Shego had landed and if she was ok, but instead came face to face with the long barrel of the death-ray as it rose upward on a circular platform.

“Hah! You’re too late, Kim Possible,” Dr Drakken declared victoriously from a chair at the opposite end of the machine. “Operation ultimate-super-hyper-death-ray is fully charged and operational. Now, say goodbye!”

Everything that occurred next happened in a heartbeat.

From his lofty position behind the controls of his death-ray, Dr Drakken pulled the trigger as he laughed almost maniacally. Kim’s eyes widened as she stared death in the face and it looked like an intense red light and a mad scientist who bore an expression of delight that was only made possible by years of prior failure. She just had enough time for a single thought, _NO!_ On the platform, underneath the barrel of the weapon, where she had landed after being kicked over the rail, Shego heard Drakken’s words and knew that she only had one choice. Shooting upwards, the green-skinned woman thundered her fists into the weapon as it fired and could only hope she had been quick enough.

“ARGH! Drakken yelled as he was flung backwards and out of his chair, the death-ray shooting into the wall and cutting a devastating path right up to the crown of the dome.

Kim blinked in amazement, unsure as to why she was not now just a pile of ash lying on the gantry. Then her gaze met with the Stoic figure of Shego. _That’s three times she’s saved my life now._ The smell of burning then drew her attention to her hair; a large patch had lost more than an inch. _Dammit, Drakken, now I’m going to need to get it cut._

Drakken looked up from where he had clattered onto the platform and saw the green and black clad figure of his sidekick. A large chunk of metal from the dome then fell down and crushed the death-ray; ending his latest plan to take over the world. “SHEGO, HOW COULD YOU!” he demanded in outrage. “I HAD KIM POSSIBLE AND THE WORLD AT MY MERCY!”

Shego did not turn around to look at her defeated boss. Instead, she said, completely deadpan, “I’ve told you before, no one finishes Kimmie except me,” as her gaze stared across at her rival. _That’s the third time I’ve saved her life and while I cite the same excuse every time, I’ve got a bad feeling that it’s more than that. Hell, even if I had the chance, I know I wouldn’t finish her off._

Kim had heard Shego deliver this line twice before, once to Warmonga and once to Drakken himself. However, this time it had felt different, like the green-skinned woman was genuinely angry at the mad scientist for even trying to finish her off and not simply because the right to do so had already been reserved. Unfortunately, she had no time to dwell on the subject, as more chunks of the ceiling began to rain down around them. _Crap, I’ve got to get out of here, stat!_ With one last look at Shego, she ran for the stairs to the upper gantry. Heart hammering to the rhythm of her feet on the metal, she forced her body to push beyond the pain; beyond the limits of what should humanly be possible. Whipping out her grapple, she fired it at the upper railing and held on for dear life as she whizzed upwards. Shooting over the edge, she landed with a thud on the upper gantry and broke into a run before both feet had even had the chance to properly plant themselves. Dodging left and right to avoid the falling segments of the roof, she darted for the door and burst through it. There was no time to rest though as the destabilisation of the main dome would likely take the corridor that encircled it down with it. Sure enough, by the time she had gone halfway around, she could hear the strained creaking of metal that’s time in one piece was limited. Hurtling along the last stretch of corridor, she reached the main stairwell and began to ascend. Unfortunately, there was no gap between the flights in which she could use the grapple, so she was restricted to the power of her legs.

By the time she reached the top, Kim already had the Kimmunicator ready to hack the hidden door that would allow her outside. Stuffing her gadget’s jack into the door terminal, she ran the program and waited. Down below, she could hear the continual loud grinding and thudding of the main dome tearing itself apart. _Come on, come on,_ she cursed. _I am not dying after having gone through all that, just because of some slow software._ As if on cue, the light on the panel pinged green and the door opened. Wasting no time, she darted outside and did not stop until she had cleared the wire fence. Utterly exhausted, she came to a standstill and allowed herself to collapse onto the ground.

##

Chunks of metal thundered down from the roof as Shego turned to entertain Dr Drakken, the man still lying sprawled out on the platform. Reaching into the pouch on her leg, she pulled out the emergency remote control for the hovercraft and hit the button; the device was cracked but still functional. She then glared at her boss, “wait here!” she commanded. This was where she really earned her pay; saving the mad-scientists backside when his plan invariably went tits up. Granted it was few and far between that she had been directly responsible for its failure. Igniting her plasma, Shego dodged the falling metal and jumped onto the highest part of the platform. There was a large hatch in the roof directly above them through which Drakken had planned on taking his death-ray. It would be large enough for the hovercraft to fit through, however, the blast from the death-ray had clearly damaged the locking mechanism as it had not opened. So, she would need to do things the old fashioned way. Forming a large ball of plasma, she fired it at the reinforced steel.

“Shego, are you insane!” Drakken squealed from below her.

“If you want to get out of here, Dr D, then shut it,” she barked, throwing a second plasma ball, followed quickly by a third. For once, his complaint was not without merit. However, while there was a chance that the whole roof could collapse and bury them, if the hovercraft couldn’t get to them, they were boned regardless.

Furiously, Shego continued to fire balls of plasma at the hatch, knowing that she would need to destroy the whole thing before the hovercraft would fit. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kimmie burst through the door that led out of the main dome. _At least someone’s getting out alive._ Eventually, just at the point that she thought the roof could take no more, the last of the hatch fell away and the hovercraft descended. Jumping down to where Drakken was cowering beneath the remains of his death-ray, she seized him around the waist and threw him over her shoulder. A large boulder missed her by only a whisker as she tossed the man into the waiting vehicle and then jumped into the driver’s seat.

“When we get out of here, we’re going to have a serious conversation about your benefits package, Shego,” Drakken barked as she weaved towards the hatch.

“What, about how you plan to enhance them for saving your backside, **again**!” she retorted, skirting around more falling debris.

“WHAT! IF IT HADN’T BEEN FOR YOU, I’D BE SUPREME OVERLORD OF THE WHOLE WORLD RIGHT NOW!”

“Yeah and I’ve told you before, no-one gets to finish Kimmie!” It was only after she had said it, that Shego realised that she had omitted the, ‘but me,’ part. So she hastily added, “it’s in my contract.”

“What?” Drakken exclaimed in irritation. “In that case, I think it’s high time we reviewed your terms of employment, Shego.”

“Yeah, well you can sit and do that tonight while I go and find myself a stiff drink. Just remember, make any changes and you’ll have to deal with my union rep come Monday morning.”

She heard Drakken gulp as the hovercraft steadily rose up the one-hundred-foot shaft and she smirked to herself. Her union rep was a formidable woman that always got her a good deal when it came time for her contract to be renewed. A few moments later and they broke out into the bright sunshine. Setting the navigation co-ordinates for the lair, Shego put the hovercraft on autopilot and reclined back in her chair. _Damn, that was some fight with Kimmie. Possibly even better than the one two weeks ago._ Her mind stopped in its tracks as she remembered the moment that led to her getting booted over the railing. _Did Princess seriously ask me if I wanted to go out for a drink tonight?_ She replayed the moment over again and concluded the only thing she could; Kimmie had. _She didn’t even let me answer before she kicked me over that rail. Was that her plan? Catch me off guard with some dumbass shit like that and use the opportunity to send me flying?_ Shego thought about this for a moment. _No, that would be far too underhanded for her… which means it was a genuine offer. Shit, what do I do?”_

“Shego!” Drakken yelled from the rear.

She groaned. _Chance of me getting any peace to figure this out on the way back to the lair...? Zero. Unless I decide to pitch Drakken overboard._ She gave half a thought to it, but decided against the idea. _He’s pissed off enough at me for wrecking his plan as it stands._ Resigned to having to wait until she got home, Shego turned to deal with the constant irritation that was her boss. This was going to be a long trip back to the lair.

##

It was warm out in the mid-day sun and Kim gratefully took in deep breaths of fresh air. After a few moments, a cheesy grin spread across her face and she began to laugh. _I know I shouldn’t, given that I was a whisker away from death by Drakken and then again by falling metal and slow programming, but god damn that was a blast! And the look on Shego’s face when I asked her out for a drink. Heh, probably shouldn’t have dropped that bombshell while we were engaged with one another. I totally didn’t mean to kick her over that railing._ It was only then, as she sat and recalled the event, that Kim felt a flash of annoyance. _Dammit! I never got an answer from her. Why did Drakken have to pick that moment to fire his stupid death-ray?_ Unfortunately, it left her with a bit of a problem. _Should I assume she would have said no and just go home for the night, or should I go home, freshen up and then go out on the off-chance she decides to show?_ It was a tough call. While she did not want to miss the opportunity to sit and talk with Shego, neither did she want to end up drinking alone again. Still, she had the whole trip back home during which to make a decision.

Picking herself up, Kim flicked through the menus on the Kimmunicator as she arranged for a ride that would take her back to Middleton without the need for a skydive; she did not have the energy left for that **if** she also wanted to go out later. Her eye’s suddenly shot upwards as she heard the woosh of an engine overhead.

“I’ll get you next time, Kim Possible,” she heard Dr Drakken yell from a hovercraft as he leaned out the back and shook his fist at her.

 _If I were him, I’d count myself lucky not to have been left in there; Shego sounded pissed when he tried to kill me._ With a light laugh to herself, Kim set off towards the main road, where her ride would pick her up when it arrived. Even if, one way or the other, she did not see the raven-haired woman later that evening, it had still been one hell of a mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. Ok, so I really hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it.
> 
> In case anyone is wondering, the song Kim is listening to is called Cherry Bomb; by Ash. I had originally intended to have her listening to another one of their songs (Burn Baby Burn) and so put the respective album on so I could listen to it and choose which bit of the lyrics I wanted to use. However, by the time I got to the point where I needed to insert the lyrics, Cherry Bomb had started playing and I thought the lyrics were too good not to use.
> 
> Moving forward, the next update is already in the works and I think it will be between 3 and 5 chapters. So, please be patient and allow me a week or so to write and edit it, as I can already estimate the third chapter pushing the 10,000-word mark by itself. 
> 
> Thanks once again for your continued support and I'll hopefully see you soon.
> 
> Warm regards  
> Niaxi


	12. I am you and what I see is me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone and welcome back for the next part of And You And I. As always, a huge thank you to everyone for all the kudos, comments and just for taking the time to read this story. It really means a lot to me. 
> 
> So, this time I have three chapters for you, which I sincerely hope you all enjoy. I think I wrote chapters 12 and 13 over two days and then spent 4 joyous days working on chapter 14 (more on that one when we get there). As of this update, the story is now at just over 70,000 words, making it novel length. Lol, not bad for something that was only supposed to be a one-shot ;).
> 
> The title for chapter 12 is, yep you guessed it, from another Pink Floyd song. This time it is taken from the lyrics to their 23.5-minute masterpiece Echoes (from the album Meddle). I thought the phrase, I am you and what I see is me, was a perfect description of Shego and her little devil’s advocate.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys really enjoy this update, thanks once again for all the support and I’ll see you briefly at the start of chapter 13. So, first up, chapter 12: I am you and what I see is me.

It had not been a fun trip back to the lair. Not only had it been long; across two state lines, but Shego had been subjected to the near-constant whinging of Dr Drakken. Subjects such as, I can’t believe you ruined my plan, curse that infuriating Kim Possible, I could be ruling the world right now if it hadn’t been for you and I’ll get Kim possible if it’s the last thing I do, being chief amongst them. It would have driven her crazy if she’d had to listen to him for the whole trek. Fortunately, he’d eventually ran out of air for yelling and so taken time to quietly sulk. Allowing her the time to slip into a meditative state and allow her glow to heal her injuries; negating the bulk of the pain. When they finally arrived, Drakken had then had the audacity to complain about her leaving. Claiming that since she had ruined his plan and made him a laughing stock on global TV, that she had to help him formulate a new one. Shego had promptly given him the finger, fetched her black and green flamed helmet from the locker room and headed for the Blackbird. Once out of the lair, she had then taken a very long route home, cursing at two-hundred-and-fifty mph as she tried to clear her head.

Shego opened the refrigerator, withdrew a bottle of beer, cut the top off with a lit finger and headed for the sofa. _What a day,_ she thought as a small smile played on her lips. _Kimmie and I were both on fire._ The motorbike ride had done a lot to help calm her down and now that she was rid of Drakken for another week, her mind was free to waltz in the memory of her latest dance with the red-haired vixen. _Heh, the look on her face when I got her back for that vortex throw the other week was priceless. However, definitely going to have to watch out for that damn barrage of jumping-front-kicks she can rattle off. I wonder how she generates so much power for all four kicks? Guess I’m going to have to try and figure that out the old-fashioned way…_

_“Or you could always ask her tonight.”_

Shego groaned at the sound of her little devil’s advocate’s voice, as it provided an apt image of the hero rattling off her jumping-front-kick combo. In fairness, she was surprised it had waited this long before bringing up the subject of Princess’ invite to go for a drink. _I’m not purposefully going out to meet Kimmie. It’s not happening._

The voice laughed, _“yeah and I’m not going to keep bugging the hell out of you for the rest of time.”_

 _And what’s that supposed to mean?_ Shego snapped back. She swallowed a large mouthful of beer in a vain attempt to steady her nerves in preparation for her latest internalised argument. _I’ve been having far too many of these of late. Maybe I need to drink more and think less._

_“Come on, we both know you’re going to go.”_

A wicked smile flashed across Shego’s lips. She had some decent ammo for this particular fight. _And how am I supposed to do that, Genius? Kimmie never gave me the chance to say yes before she kicked me over that railing. Not to mention that she never specified a location. So even if I wanted to, which I don’t, I have no idea if she would even be there or where there is for that matter._

 _“Ok, fair point,”_ the voice conceded, before continuing, _“which means you need to give her a call and ask.”_

Shego took another sip of her beer as a gleam of triumph sparkled in her eyes. She loved getting one over on that smug asshole. Casually, she reached into the pouch on the leg of her catsuit and pulled out the crushed remains of her cell phone. _Sorry, no can do. Kimmie destroyed my phone; probably when she booted me over that railing. Guess there’s no way of me finding out where she wanted to meet. Oh well, what a shame. Looks like it’s a quiet night in for me. Maybe I’ll go for a long soak in the jacuzzi, with that nice bottle of bourbon I swiped from Se_ _ñior Senior, Senior last time I was over at his joint._ For a few blissful minutes, Shego revelled in her victory and enjoyed her beer. Only it wasn’t to last.

_“Or you take a gamble…”_

_No, there will be no gambling tonight. Hot water, good music and the slight burn of bourbon, that’s what’s on the menu._ She focused on the image of herself in the jacuzzi, to the point that she could almost feel the warm bubbles against her skin, smell the scent of mint and eucalyptus and taste the oaky richness of the bourbon. _So, you can go away and leave me in peace._

 _“I could… but where would the fun be in that?_ The devil’s advocated then obliterated her serene image with one of a victorious looking Kimmie.

_What the hell is that for?_

_“Because that’s the image you’re going to be stuck with if you don’t go.”_

Shego frowned, _“how come?”_

The devil’s advocated rolled its non-existent eyes. _“Because, if Kimmie shows up, which we both know she will and you don’t, she’ll have gotten one over on you.”_

An expression of bewilderment formed on her face. _By what bastardised logic did you come up with that idea?_ She really had no clue where that part of her brain got some of its crap from.

_“Whether Kimmie meant it or not, that invite to go out for a drink was a challenge. She’s taken the gauntlet off, thrown it on the ground and you’re trying to walk away from it.”_

Shego’s eyes widened at the revelation. _Crap, you’re right!_ She tossed her head back against the couch. _Urgh, how do I get myself into these situations?_

_“So, ready to listen to me?”_

_No,_ she scowled. Every time she thought she had that bastard, it found some sort of loophole… just like Kimmie did when cornered. For a few minutes, Shego sat and sulked while she finished her beer. All the while, well aware of the smug expression on her little devil’s advocate’s non-corporeal face. It said nothing. Toying with her as it was want to do in such situations. Letting her stew until she couldn’t take it anymore. _Alright, fine, spill it and then leave me the hell alone._

_“Well, first things first, you need to go for a shower. Have you smelled under your armpit recently?”_

She had and it was not a pleasant aroma. Dancing with Kimmie for so long had caused her to work up quite a sweat. _Well, doy! Any other sagely wisdom? Like how I’m supposed to know where to go?_

_“Well, doy, yourself. Isn’t it obvious, Pumpkin?”_

Shego growled at having her own term of derision **and** one of her nicknames for Kimmie used against her. That asshole was getting a little too fond of doing both of late. However, the answer came quickly enough, _Spritzers._ **If** Princess did choose to go out, on the off chance she herself decided to show up, she would go to the venue of their last social meeting. _Ok, fine, so I know where she’ll go. However, that doesn’t mean I want to go for any reason other than I can’t back away from any challenge she throws down. And I am so making her drink a Long Island iced tea!_

_“Do you smell that?”_

_What?_ Shego asked, her senses immediately going on alert as she tried to detect any hint of a gas leak… or worse. _I don’t smell anything._

_“I do, it’s called bullshit.”_

Her expression quickly darkened, the comment almost enough to cause her to ignite her glow. _Screw you!_

_“Hmmm, maybe you should. You’ve been so busy of late that you’ve not released any of those mounting tensions. I think this weekend calls for some alone time with one of the vibrators… after you’ve gone out with Kimmie.”_

_Ok, that I agree with._ Rising from the sofa, Shego made her way to the kitchen and dumped the empty beer bottle in the trash. _I suppose I’d better go for that shower then._

_“Good, then we can pick out something nice to wear.”_

_I already told you, I’m doing this purely because I’m a stubborn idiot that doesn’t know when to drop a challenge._

_“While I agree with the self-assessment, that’s still a load of bullshit. You already accepted that you miss fighting Kimmie. Would it really be that bad for you to accept that you might actually want to have her as a friend who you hang out with, not just an enemy you like to test yourself against?”_

Shego’s footfalls were heavy on the stairs as she climbed up to the first floor. _How many times do I have to say it, I don’t do friends._

_“No, but you used to.”_

_If you dare mention that blonde bitch’s name, I’ll go back to the lair, find one of Drakken’s brain-altering toys and excise you!_

_“And probably render yourself a mindless zombie that someone will have to spoon-feed mush to for the rest of your days. So, save the empty threats of scrambling your brain with a piece of Drakken junk. Besides, Danni wasn’t the only friend you ever had.”_

Shego’s hands erupted in green flames. _I told you not to say her name!_

_“And I told you that your threat was empty. Besides, I was simply pointing out that she was not the only friend you ever had.”_

_Yeah, and how many of them stuck around after I became that freak with the green skin who kept setting everything she touched on fire?_ she shot back bitterly as she entered her bedroom. She spared a moment to hit play on her stereo, content to listen to whatever CD had been in last; it turned out to be a hard rock mix.

_“Mandy and Heather never abandoned you.”_

_Really? Then where are they now?_ Allowing her plasma to dissipate, she headed into the bathroom and unzipped her catsuit; having to physically peel it off her skin because she had sweat so much.

_“You pushed them away, don’t you remember?”_

_…_

_“They stuck by you after the incident with the comet transformed your appearance. Even when all the others turned on you…”_

Shego tried to ignore the history lesson as she climbed into the shower.

_“…But you let all the other kids at school convince you that you were a monster, to the point that you eventually drove them away.”_

_That’s not fair! I was dangerous back then. I didn’t have control over my powers and set so many things on fire that anyone who hung around me was at serious risk of getting burned. It was for their own good!_ The hot water rained down over her and slowly eased off some of the tension that the subject was causing. _Besides, while they might have stuck around, things were never the same between us after I got my powers. They still treated me differently from everyone else. There was always that hint of pity and sympathy for poor old me cos my skin was now green and I couldn’t stop setting things on fire._

_“Maybe you’re right,” the devil’s advocate admitted._

Shego frowned as she ran shampoo through her thick raven tresses. That asshole never agreed with her unless it had a sting in its tail.

Sure enough, _“but that’s what made Danni so special. She treated you like any other ordinary person.”_

The conditioner bottle in Shego’s hand melted into a puddle of plastic and the contents evaporated into a mint and eucalyptus cloud as her fists ignited once more. “DON’T SAY HER NAME,” she yelled, somehow managing to restrain herself from punching one of the glass panels or the wall.

_“Why? Why are you so scared of the memory of one girl?”_

_I’m not scared of her memory! I just get angry whenever I think about her and if it’s all the same with you, I’d rather not. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t actually like being angry all the time._

_“So sure about that?”_

_Yes!_ She had to step out of the shower to source a new bottle of conditioner from the cupboard under the sink. The water on her skin quickly cooled and she would have been covered in goose-pimples had her glow not stepped in to replace the lost heat and evaporate it.

She had just stepped back into the cubical when her little devil’s advocate continued, _“or maybe you’re afraid that if you think about her for too long, you’ll remember all the good memories, not just the ones from the end that caused you so much pain that you use anger to spare yourself from it.”_

 _SHUT UP!_ Without igniting her hands, Shego punched the tiled wall as hard as she could. There was a sickening crunch as all of her knuckles broke; the tile cracked. “MOTHERFUCKER!” she cursed through gritted teeth; pain flooding through her. Sitting down on the floor, she took a deep breath as she seethed. She knew full well what was about to happen and there was no way she would be able to calm her mind in enough time to avoid the pain. _Shit, this is going to hurt, but at least it’s only a few broken knuckles, so it’ll be quick._ While there was no exact science, that she was aware of, governing how long her healing abilities took to kick in or to heal a specific injury, something minor like this roughly only took about five minutes. Shego closed her eyes when the green glow intensified around her hand, but she made no sound as the small bones of her knuckles began to knit themselves back together and the pain ratcheted up.

After about five minutes of agony, in which it felt like her hand had been dipped in liquid steel, it was over. The pain quickly receded, the intensity of her glow dropped and the knuckles on her right hand showed no sign that they had all been broken only minutes prior. Shego stood up, quickly conditioned her hair, then turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. By the time she had crossed the room and picked up a towel, her glow had already evaporated the water from her skin; leaving it bone dry. She went through the motions of drying herself anyway; the sensation of the towel against her skin somewhat soothing. Running her hands through her long raven hair dried it instantly and so all she had left to do was brush it.

 _I hope that hurt you as much as it did me,_ she eventually said internally. It sucked in these situations where the only person she could blame was herself, however, she did it anyway.

_“Doy, of course it did. I am you, remember.”_

_…And what I see is me…_ Shego left the bathroom and wandered into her walk-in wardrobe. _So why the hell did you say that shit? Given that you knew how I’d respond._

_“Because, sooner or later, you’re going to have to deal with it.”_

_News flash, I dealt with it six years ago. So, you can just drop it._ She began to thumb through a rack of jeans, pulling out a black pair to appraise before shoving them back in favour of blue ones with slashed knees. _Besides, it’s completely irrelevant._

_“Actually, it’s perfectly relevant. The reason you’re afraid of those memories is the same reason you’re afraid of becoming friends with Kimmie.”_

_I’m not afraid! I just don’t do friends anymore; period._ Shego pulled out an ACDC and a Kiss t-shirt; both black. Turning to face the full-length mirror, she held the jeans up to her waist and then each t-shirt in turn against her chest. Both would hug her figure while not revealing any skin, so it was purely a choice between hard rock and glam metal; she went with the latter. Finally, she selected a black and green checked shirt; feeling a need to have something that matched her favourite colour scheme, a black and blue racing jacket and black knee-high boots. She dressed to the sound of Gene Simmons roaring the lyrics to God of Thunder. _So, how do I look?_ She asked the question of herself and instantly regretted it, for all she had done was give her little devil’s advocate another opening.

_“Like someone nonchalantly saying, ‘I’m sexy and you so want to sleep with me’.”_

_Oh, for fuck sake! It’s jeans, a t-shirt and a shirt, with a bike jacket cos I’ll be riding the Blackbird!_

_“Correction, it’s fitted jeans, t-shirt and a shirt, with a fitted bike jacket. Not to mention the fuck-me boots. If you were wanting to go casual, you would have put on much looser clothing, but you don’t.”_

_And why is that?_

_“Because you’re hoping that this is supposed to be a date.”_

_Why the hell…_ Shego paused mid-rant as she the memory of the aftermath of their dance two weeks prior floated through her mind. _Oh, shit! I’d forgotten about that. I stupidly told Kimmie that she could ask me out on a date if she wanted to dance again. Well, we did the dance this afternoon and then she asked me out for a drink. Is this supposed to be a date…? No, it can’t be. Princess doesn’t do girls._

_“Ahh, but remember how she responded when you invited her to ask you out on said date.”_

Shego could recall Kimmie’s words perfectly, _"_ _what would you say if I did?"_ _No… that wasn't her asking me out on a date. She just wants to go out for a harmless drink… doesn’t she?_

_“Well, you did leave the door open for her. If I recall correctly, you told her you would only consider the offer if she was serious about dating a girl. Implying…”_

_I know what I said… and it was stupid._

_“Or maybe, just maybe, it indicated how you actually feel.”_

Shego closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose and drew in a steady breath through lightly gritted teeth. If possible, she’d rather not break any more bones this evening or worse; destroy part of the house. “I can’t,” she said, enunciating each word slowly and with feeling, “want to go on a date with Kim fucking Possible!” _…can I?_

 _“You can and you’d happily sleep with her,”_ her little devil’s advocate chimed in. _“And don’t deny it. We both know you think she’s hot.”_

That was something Shego could not argue with. Two weeks ago, after their dance had ended, she’d taken her first proper look at Kimmie as a woman and knew that she liked what she saw. That lithe frame, cute smile, gorgeous flaming-red hair… and those big olive-green eyes that you could easily become lost in, it all added up to a breath-taking package. _Fine, if it was anyone other than Princess, I would have made a move on her two weeks ago. Regardless, there’s no guarantee that this is a date._

_“True, but we both know that you want it to be… something more than just a drink between enemies.”_

Shego growled internally but elected not to entertain the matter further. Suitably dressed, she turned the stereo off and headed back downstairs. Pocketing her keys and purse, she pulled on her helmet and left the house; activating its robust defence system, which did include auto-turrets and a laser grid that sliced you to pieces. Climbing aboard the Blackbird, she started the motor and it roared into life. Already she could feel a rush of adrenaline and knew it had nothing to do with the fact she was about to be travelling at a speed of about two-hundred and fifty mph. She was going to see Kimmie.


	13. Parallels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so just a quick pit-stop before we get into chapter 13. For the chapter title this time we’re jumping from one prog-rock band to another. Parallels is a title of a song by Yes; taken from their Going for the One album. I thought it was apt for this chapter, given the parallels we’ll see between our two lovely ladies. Anyway, without further delay, here’s chapter 13, enjoy.

“Oh crap, oh crap, ohcrap, ohcrapohcrap…”

Kim Possible furiously paced back and forth across the main living area of her apartment; mind going a million miles an hour. _I asked Shego to go out for a drink with me!_ She turned on her heal and strode passed the wooden raised section of the floor that led to the balcony doors and then down a short hallway to her bedroom and workroom. _I can’t believe I asked Shego out for a drink!_ She circled around the dining table and stopped when she got to the entrance to the open plan kitchen. _Oh God! I actually asked Shego to go out for a drink with me! …and I have no idea what her answer would have been because I kicked her over a railing; then almost got killed by Drakken’s stupid death-ray! I’m such an idiot!_ Kim did not know which of those actions she was considering herself an idiot for having carried out.

She took a deep breath to try and calm herself. _Ok, what do I do? Do I just ignore it, pretend it didn’t happen? …yeah, that sounds like the thing to do; problem solved. S_ he went into the kitchen and fetched a bottle of soda from the fridge, opened it and then drunk half the contents by the time she made it to the sofa. Plonking herself down, she picked up the TV remote and turned it on. Unsurprisingly, the news channel was talking about her latest defeat of Dr Drakken. While she had managed to escape the scene before either GJ or the press had shown up, she had been forced to call the former and explain to them where to find the base personnel and about the likelihood of the main dome having torn itself apart. After all, It would have been unsafe for them to go inside the complex blind, then have it fall down on top of them.

The call had taken the whole trip home; agent Will Du continuing to pester her with questions and then, surprise surprise, telling her that she’d done a good job but could do so much more if she worked for Global Justice. Kim had ended things there by rather forcibly declining the invite; having become increasingly tired of them pestering her about it. Unfortunately, she knew full well that Dr Director was a woman who always got what she wanted and at the moment, that was Kim Possible in GJ. _How far will she go to make that happen?_ It was a question she’d asked herself after every encounter with GJ of late. Contrary to the image they portrayed, Kim knew the organisation operated very much in the shades of grey region of the spectrum and not just when it came to the uniforms. Indeed, the more missions she carried out at their behest, the more it was becoming apparent just how unethical and underhanded they could be when it came to the term, ‘for the greater good’. _I might need to be carful in my future dealings with them, especially if they decide that me becoming a member is, ‘for the greater good’._

A video clip of Drakken, which showed her and Shego fighting in the background, brought Kim’s mind away from GJ and back to the highlight of the past two weeks. _Damn, we had a good dance today._ She winced slightly as she twisted her torso; her ribs reminding her that one of their number was broken. _But I so need to get her back for using that vortex throw against me. And how on earth did she propel herself that high and that far forward when she sprang up from the floor? Heh, guess I’ll just have to try and figure it out. I mean, it’s not as if I can ask her…_ The thought crossed Kim’s mind and brought her straight back to the subject of having asked Shego out for a drink. _Even if I went out, I’d have no idea where to go or even if she’d bother trying to meet me. And I can’t exactly pick up the phone and go, “hey, do you want to go out? Ok, let’s meet here…”_

Kim’s eyes locked onto her small black handbag, which still lay exactly where it had been thrown when she’d come home after her fight with Ron the previous week. She reached out to the other side of the couch and grabbed it. Withdrawing her phone, she ignored the mass amount of texts and missed phone calls and started scrolling through her contacts list. She found what she was looking for under M… M for Miss Go. Excitedly, she hit the call button and brought the phone up to her ear. _Oh, God, I’m actually calling Shego to see if she wants to go out for a drink!_ Her enthusiasm quickly faded when she heard the voice that answered, _“the villain that you have dialled cannot be reached, most likely due to having their phone destroyed by some no good hero. Please hang up, or we’ll blow up your telephone.”_ She hastily hung up. _Dammit! Her cell phone must have been damaged during our dance… Well, that totally sucks Monkey Fist’s balls._

Kim tossed her phone down on the coffee table and pouted. _Damn, I’m actually really annoyed about this. But why?_ She shook her head, already knowing the answer. While she had tried her best not to think about the disaster that was last Friday, she could not shake one of the main points that had come from it; she would rather spend time with Shego than with her actual friends, because the green-skinned woman got her completely. There was no need for her to even try to be anyone other than herself around her and at no point did she feel self-conscious in any way. _Ok, so what do I do? If I can’t get in touch with her, do I go out and hope I run into her? And that’s assuming she does the same._ She pondered this conundrum for a moment. **_If_** _and it’s a big if, Shego is actually thinking the same thing I am, what would she do? Where would she go to try and find me?_ It didn’t take long for her to come up with an answer, _Spritzers!_ Kim immediately leapt to her feet and began to make her way towards her bedroom. _If neither of us knows where to meet the other, the logical place to go would be the venue of our last social encounter._

She could feel a sense of anticipation and excitement begin to build as she went straight into her en-suite bathroom and stripped off her mission outfit. She caught an unwanted whiff of it as she shoved it into the bowels of the laundry basket. _Fuck I stink. Heh, I can’t remember the last time I sweat that much on a mission. However, next time it’s a Drakken job, I am so wearing my battle suit. When Shego uses her glow, I have to fight much more defensively and she also gains ranged attacks. So, I am totally levelling the playing field!_ She turned on the shower and while she waited for it to heat up, took stock of her latest collection of wounds. _I hate doing this._ A large black and purple bruise covered the right-hand side of her torso; where her rib had broken, however, other than that there didn’t appear to be anything major, just a few cuts and scrapes here and there that she could easily patch up, _no biggie._

Hesitantly, Kim stood with her back to the mirror and glanced over her shoulder. Involuntarily, her eyes were drawn to three long diagonal scars that ran across her left shoulder blade. They had been a gift from Shego and made the faint marks on her left arm from the night of her junior prom look like a scratch from Rufus. Her battle suit having covered and quickly mitigated the damage on that occasion. However, she had been wearing her normal mission outfit when the former had occurred and so she’d suffered the full brunt of three razor sharp claws that had been superheated from extended exposure to Shego’s plasma. She could still remember with unwanted precision, the agony she had been in that day. Indeed, only the adrenaline and the knowledge that she needed to stop Drakken had kept her going. When she’d eventually got home, Kim did not know how long she had lay curled up on her bed and simply screamed, as the pain broke through her mental barriers. She had been fortunate with only two things, the sheer heat from the claws had cauterized the wounds, meaning she had not bled out and that Ron had been back in Middleton. However, once she had been able to think straight, she had been forced to call her mom and get her to drive through to tend to them. It had not been a pretty sight. Burnt flesh with blisters that glistened like macabre rubies mixed with clumps of purple fabric where her t-shirt had fused to her skin. Needless to say, they were by far the worst of her collection and every time she saw them in the mirror, they had a nasty habit of conjuring up a slew of dark thoughts, all baying for attention. And sometimes, on the worst days, it felt like there was a dark pit somewhere in the room, just waiting for her to fall into. As it was, she managed to wrench her eyes away with only one making it to the fore, _I hate my body._ She physically shook the thought out of her head. _It’s an unfortunate trade-off for doing what I love._

Stepping away for the mirror, Kim climbed inside the shower, her limbs rejoicing at the hot water. As she busied herself with the task of washing, her mind quickly returned to the main topic of the evening and she felt the excitement begin to bubble again. _Ok, so what is tonight supposed to be?_ The question caught her slightly by surprise and she actually had to ask herself, _what is that supposed to mean?_ before she remembered Shego’s words from two weeks ago, _“if you can’t wait to dance with me again, you can always ask me out on a date.”_ And then her own response of, _“what would you say if I did?”_ _Crap!_ Kim pinched the bridge of her nose. _Did I inadvertently ask Shego out on a date tonight? Will she think that I invited her out on a date?_ Thoughts about her sexuality and the questions that had been raised over the past two weeks threatened to derail her mind, before she quickly closed the door on them, _no. This is not supposed to be a date. I like boys. I was even checking some out back in California! I just want to be… friends with her. God, that sounds so fucked up! I’m a hero and she’s a villain and not just any villain, but my nemesis… so fucked up that it might actually have come right back around to some semblance of sense. Not only do we have so much in common, but Shego understands me in a way that no one else does. Why wouldn’t I want to be friends with someone like that?_

Kim finished washing and turned off the shower, the matter having been settled in her head. _This is simply a drink with someone I hope will be my friend._ She picked up a fluffy pink towel from the rack, wrapped it around herself and then used a second for her hair. Wandering through into her bedroom, she went through the motions of drying, her mind having already moved onto the next stage; dressing. _Ok, so what do I wear that says, “will you be my friend?” …definitely not that stupid dress and heals get up from last week. Besides, Spritzer’s is a semi-casual place anyway, I’d look far too overdressed wearing something like that._ Her brain cycled through her rather extensive wardrobe collection. _Heh, I really need to stop packing for one night when I leave and buying clothes when I get there… Or I could always just cull some of the older stuff that I don’t wear anymore. Then again, if I did that, my mission wardrobe would probably have more outfits in it._ That was a slightly depressing thought. She spent so much time away from home and wearing mission gear that her normal people clothes hardly got worn, save for her pyjamas. In fact, sometimes when she came home, she’d shower, put on a pair of pyjamas and not wear anything else until she was again suiting up in her mission outfit and heading back out into the field.

Kim finished drying her hair and pouted at the singed section where she had lost a more than an inch to Drakken’s stupid death-ray. There was only one thing for it, she would need to trim the ends tonight and then see if she could get an emergency appointment at the hair salon tomorrow. Fortunately, the owner was another member of the, ‘Kim Possible did a favour for club’, so it hopefully wouldn’t be a problem. She rummaged around inside her dresser for a pair of scissors. When she finally found some, she held the ends of her hair up and slid the singed section between the blades. Her hand trembled and she closed her eyes. _Please don’t look a total mess. Please don’t look a total mess. Please don’t…_ Snip. She closed the scissors like she was releasing the rope of a guillotine blade aimed at her own neck. _Please don’t look a total mess. Please don’t look a total mess. Please don’t…_ Hesitantly, Kim opened the corner of one eye and sneaked a glance at the mirror. Her body relaxed and she let out a breath she hadn’t even been aware of holding. _Ok, so it’s not too bad. In fact,_ she picked up a scrunchy from the dresser and tied her hair up in a high ponytail, _you don’t even notice it._ She quickly spun the scissors around her finger in a similar fashion to how cowboys always did their guns in old western films and then caught them cleanly in her palm. _Alright, Kim Possible, world hero and amateur hair stylist!_

Satisfied with her handiwork, Kim stood up, made a quick detour to the bathroom to strap her ribs and patch up her other wounds, then headed into her wardrobe. She eschewed all dresses and skirts and headed straight for the jeans rail. _Ok, so I might not use it as much as I would like, but I still love having a large walk-in wardrobe._ The thought lingered in her mind for a moment as she rubbed the leg of a pair of ridiculously soft jeans. Monique loved it too. Her best girl still turned green with envy every time she stepped inside it and that was before she got to peruse the latest additions Kim had added from this trip to Paris or that trip to Milan. She sighed, _I suppose I should call her at some point this weekend. Apologise for what happened last Friday… In fact, I’d better do that tomorrow before I go to mom and dads. I need to know exactly what she told mom, because what mom thinks might be everything might not be everything. And the last thing I want to do is tell mom something she doesn’t already know and doesn’t need to._ She pulled out a pair of white jeans, held them up to her waist and then quickly shoved them back on the rail, _nope._ Next, she tried a black pair that lacked half a right leg and had kanji spray painted in neon yellow down the other, _no, definitely not._ She flicked through several other pairs without giving them a passing glance before finally pulling out a slightly baggy blue pair, _we have a winner. Now, what do I wear with it?_ That decision came easy. Reaching up to the rail above, she plucked a blue and white checked shirt from its hanger, _perfect._ Fetching underwear from the chest of drawers, she stopped at the shoe rack to pick up a pair of red Converse.

Returning to her bedroom, Kim dressed quickly, her eyes glancing over to the clock on her nightstand; 7:32 pm. _Ok, I can be out of here in ten and at Spritzers for eight. I’m pretty sure that’s roughly when Shego put in an appearance last time._ Sitting back down at her dressing table, she looked at her reflection in the mirror before deciding on only the lightest of makeup, a far cry from the dolled up ‘work of art’ Monique had tried to sculpt her into last week. She was still a girl, still liked to look pretty, but found herself less willing to spend the time and trouble she once would have in order to do so. _Ok, so I definitely say, ‘let’s be friends’, not, ‘I want to kiss you and then feel you all over’._ An image of a winking Shego in her bathing suit flashed through her mind at that thought, but she quickly swatted it aside. _I like boys and only boys._ Kim forced herself to remember the words of Mr Barkin, _“All right, listen up people. Boys date girls, boys kiss girls and boys mate with girls. End of discussion.” I like boys!_

Heading into the living room, Kim fetched her purse and phone, slipped them into the pockets of her jeans and made for the front door; picking up her Country Club Banana jacket from the coat stand. A rush of giddy excitement filled her as she left the apartment, very much akin to that she felt when going out on a mission; not when going out on a Friday night. This was a novel experience for her and she knew it came down to one simple fact, she was going to see Shego.


	14. Poles apart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we are, chapter 14; the big one, the one we’ve all been waiting for... lol, ok so you all get the picture. I spent three days writing this chapter and it was one of the most enjoyable that I’ve ever written and also the longest at just shy of 12K words. I then spent another day editing it to try and get every part right and I am genuinely proud of the result. However, I’ll leave it up to you guys to decide if, in the end, I did. 
> 
> In an effort to avoid any spoilers, I’ll denote the source of the chapter title and the reason why at the end. 
> 
> So, without further ado, here’s chapter 14: Poles Apart. Enjoy.

**Part one: Déjà Vu**

It was a rather surreal feeling, Kim thought, as she opened the glass front door and stepped inside Spritzers. The bar was exactly the same as it had been on her last visit. Same trendy look. Same relaxed atmosphere. Same leather and chrome stools sitting in front of a blacktopped bar, behind which numerous coloured bottles of spirits could be seen. Yet her outlook on it could not have been more polar than that of the last time she had been here if she had tried. Tonight, she was here because she wanted to be, not because she sought some sort of lift; but wished to avoid her friends at all costs. Kim felt a slight buzz of anticipation as she strolled between the tables and up to the bar; making note of the other patrons. While they numbered more than they had at this time two weeks prior, the place still retained a sense of calm and decorum. A far cry from the noisy, crowded nightclub she’d been dragged to last Friday. _Yeah, this is so my sort of place._

Slipping her jacket off, Kim draped it over the back of the same stool at the end of the bar as last time and sat down to wait. _Everything’s the same, but feels so different… I feel so different._ Her eyes took in the rows of brightly coloured bottles and she felt the urge to try them all. _Maybe Shego can help me out and introduce me to some new cocktails, she seems to know her liquor._ She signalled the barman with a sweet smile and he immediately walked over to serve her.

“Evening, Miss Possible. What can I get you tonight?”

“Evening, Joe,” she thought for a moment before making a choice, “how about a strawberry daiquiri to start the night?”

The barman smiled at her, “coming right up, Miss.”

Kim reached into the pocket of her jeans, pulled out her purse and withdrew the money to pay for her drink. She handed it over when Joe sat her cocktail down in front of her, picked up the beverage and took a sip. The taste of the strawberry on her tongue, mixed with the sharpness of the white rum immediately reminded her of Geneva and the first one she’d tasted, only she liked this one better. Although whether that was down to Joe’s skill as a mixologist or her mood, she could not say. Kim picked up a menu and relaxed against the padded back of her stool as she thumbed through it. She’d not had time to eat anything before coming out and had a sneaking suspicion that Shego would be in the same boat. _Heh, the look on her face when it transpired we were going to order the same thing last time._ It was only at the thought of her hopefully would-be companion, that a nasty thought crept into her mind, _what if she doesn’t come?_ The idea felt like a lead weight waiting to drag her down into the dark depths of depression. And she found she did not want to contemplate that eventuality. She’d been there two weeks ago, sat right in this very spot and moped about her life and how it sucked. It didn’t, she loved her day job. But in those moments, if she’d had a bad week and was stuck at home, the negatives had a tendency to weigh heavy on her. _It’s weird, but even though I hadn’t seen Shego since two weeks past Friday and despite the shit that went down last weekend, just the thought of getting to see her again managed to lift my mood… gave me something to look forward to. Oh, God, I so hope she comes…_ With slightly more butterflies in her stomach, Kim sat back to wait.

##

Shego skidded the Blackbird into a parking space, cut the engine and kicked down the stand. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she pulled off her helmet; her thick raven hair fell down over the back of her jacket. It had been a mildly entertaining trip. A mile or two outside of Middleton, she’d zoomed past a parked police car and the hapless officer had attempted to give chase. Having been travelling at two-hundred-and-fifty mph, the cop hadn’t been able to reach even half her speed. She chuckled to herself, _shortest car chase in history._ Locking her helmet securely under the seat, she activated the bike’s security system and headed in the direction of Spritzers.

 _I wonder if Kimmie is already here?_ Shego pondered as she walked along the busy sidewalk. She’d thought about little else for the whole trip. In the end, as messed up as it seemed, she’d much rather this be a date than a drink between friends. Granted, it made sense, at least in her screwed-up mind. There was no obligation with a date. She could show up, have a few drinks, take Kimmie off to a hotel and fuck her senseless, then leave once she was done. Maybe, if it had been good enough, she’d call her in a few days to arrange a follow-up, or just leave it be. Regardless, it was easy and required no commitment whatsoever. In fact, she actually did it on occasion. However, friendship… that was a completely different story. Friendship was more than a one-time deal. It meant that you spoke or met up on a routine basis. Shared personal information and secrets… confided in one another… _I don’t do friends. And don’t even think about mentioning the R-word._ She made the point but received no reply from her little devil’s advocate. Granted, that came as no surprise. Once it had gotten its way over something and she’d actually committed to the respective action, that part of her brain tended to stay silent until after the event, when it would slink out of the woodwork to dissect her choices and just generally annoy her.

Passing through the glass front door of the bar, Shego cast her gaze around the room, immediately spying Kimmie at the same spot as two weeks prior. Only this time there was no moment of indecision where she thought about backing out. The girl had thrown down the gauntlet earlier that day and she had no intention of walking away and letting her win unchallenged. Casually, she made her way between the tables and towards the bar; noting that the place was slightly busier than last time but with a similar threat level. However, she had no intention of starting any trouble. Shego drew up behind Kimmie. _Here goes nothing._

“Hey, Princess, how’z it hanging?”

##

Just the sound of the green-skinned woman’s voice was enough to send a jolt of adrenaline through Kim. Like two weeks ago, her initial urge was to turn and jump into a guard, given the history between them. This, she managed to suppress, however, the wide smile that quickly formed on her face... not so much. _Oh my God, she actually came!_ “Hey, yourself,” she replied, her eyes roving over Shego’s body. So used to seeing the woman in her trademark green and black catsuit, her gaze lingered far longer than it should have. She took in those fitted blue jeans and knee-high black leather boots. _Fuck she has amazing legs!_ Kim quickly swatted the unwanted thought aside. _No, I’m not interested in her legs... I just want to be friends._ She watched as Shego unzipped and removed her tight biker jacket, revealing her supple breasts and taught waistline; both concealed by a fitted black t-shirt. The woman then flicked her long raven hair over her shoulder with a sassy smile and Kim caught sight of the writing on her t-shirt; Kiss. _Yes, please! ...No, this is not a date. I don’t want to kiss her, I just want to be friends... I like boys!_ She could feel a slight flush in her cheeks and hoped that Shego wouldn’t notice. Hastily, she turned back around on her stool and took a drink of her strawberry daiquiri.

There was a predatory look in Shego’s eyes as she surveyed Kim. That of a hunter who had caught sight of its prey. Already she could feel a deep, almost primal hunger as she drank in the delicious sight of her princess. The girl’s fiery red mane was tied back in a high ponytail and she felt the urge to grab hold of it and use it pull her head back as she... _Dammit, Shego, get a grip of yourself. You’ve not even sat down and already you’re thinking about... **that!**_ As the hero turned away from her, she caught sight of a slight redness in her cheeks. _Well, well, Kimmie’s embarrassed about something. And she did take an extra-long look at me. Maybe she likes what she sees?_ She draped her jacket over the back of the chair and sat down. “So, been up to much today,” Shego said with a knowing grin.

Kim swallowed a mouthful of her drink as a way of trying to steady herself before turning back to face her rival. _Ok, this I can handle._ “Just the usual. Foiling super-villains, saving the world,” a broad grin, which held an unintentional seductive air, formed on her lips, “kicking the sidekick’s butt.”

Shego scowled at that comment. Unfortunately, as far as today went, Kimmie had gotten the last word when it came to their dance; a side-kick that had sent her flying over a railing. However, there was one argument she could make. “How does your victory feel, knowing that you used dirty tactics to win?”

Kim kept her expression neutral when she said, “it was for the greater good, so I’m ok with that.” _Shit, now I’m sounding like GJ._

Shego was quick to jump on that comment. “Since when were you one to subscribe to GJ’s bullshit?” But the girl’s words worried her slightly. _I thought Kimmie was smart enough to give those fuckers a wide berth._

Kim sensed the slight edge of concern in her rival’s tone and laughed. “Don’t worry; I’ve no intention of going over to the grey side.” _In fact, I’m considering limiting my dealings with them as I don’t trust Dr Director not to become underhanded herself in an attempt to recruit me. “_ But _w_ hat about you? How does it feel to be the hero again?”

Shego’s cheeks turned a darker shade of green. _Crap, why did she have to play the, ‘you were the hero today’, card?_ She sighed internally, _because from her perspective, it’s probably fucking hilarious and since this is supposed to be a social meeting; piss-taking is virtually a prerequisite. Best I can hope for on this one is a scored draw._ “Touché. You defeated the villain using dirty tactics and I saved the world for selfish reasons. Guess we both did something a little naughty today.”

Kim laughed, “I suppose I can live with that.” She raised a hand to signal the barman. “Drink?” she asked, “given that I was the one who invited you out for one and then booted you over a railing.” As she spoke, a thought crossed her mind, _fuck, she probably fell quite far and landed on her back._ She then quickly asked, “how’s your back after that fall?”

 _Great, just what I need, Kimmie worrying about my injuries. I’m here because she dropped the challenge at my feet and because I’d like to fuck her brains out, not to make friends._ “Better than your ribs I’ll wager,” she replied curtly. Her eyes looked down at the beverage in front of the hero. She didn’t need to smell it to know it was a strawberry daiquiri. “You can buy me one of those. After which I’ll introduce you to a good friend of mine called the Long Island iced tea, given that I invited you to dance without buying you a drink first.”

They both laughed and Kim ordered Shego the drink. _Well, so far so good. We’ve taken a light-hearted pot shot at one another over the day’s events, she’s letting me buy her a drink and already committed to having a second. So, either she’s genuinely interested in spending the evening with me or really wants to get drunk and doesn’t care where or who it’s with._ It was on having this thought that Kim reaffirmed her position. _Damn, I really want it to be the former. I want this to go well... And as crazy as it might be, I genuinely want to be friends with Shego._

The green-skinned woman picked up the glass offered to her by the barman and took a sip. _Mmm, that’s good daiquiri. So worth the extra you pay for the good rum._ For a moment, her mind wandered back eight years to her late teenage years and her first forays into the world of alcohol. _You don’t know how good you’ve got it, Princess. When I was just starting out, I was drinking paint-stripper and coke in whatever dive would serve me. Granted, I probably started earlier than you. Still, I had to wait until I was twenty-three and a full-time villain before I could afford the good stuff._ “So, Kimmie, what’s on the menu this evening?” Shego asked. Her eyes surveyed the girl’s perfect features and found themselves drawn to those brilliant olive-green eyes. _Please say you._ The thought manifested itself inside her mind before she could stop it. _Fuck, I’m actually feeling horny and so want to do her._ She swallowed a large mouthful of her drink. _Seriously, get a grip, Shego. You have to play this somewhat cool or you might scare her off._

Kim heard the comment but only picked up on two out of the three possible connotations. “Well, the sticky bourbon ribs are supposed to be epic and I think they’ll go well with a side order of conversation.”

“Hmm, I think that might need copious amounts of alcohol to wash down.” Shego gave the girl a wolfish grin, _followed by Kimmie for dessert._ “Ok, ribs it is. However, if we’re going to play the conversation game again, I think we need to adjust the rules a bit.”

“Why, so you’ll have a chance of winning?” Kim replied and gave her rival a sly look, however, internally was virtually bouncing. _Woohoo! We’re doing dinner, drinks and dialogue! Tonight is going to be so much better than last Friday._ Indeed, such was her level of excitement, she barely spared a thought towards what the reality of the situation meant in regards to her old friends.

Instead of rising to the bait, Shego smiled at Kimmie. “No, so that there’s a penalty for you when you don’t want to answer all the embarrassing questions I’m going to ask.”

Kim cocked her head slightly and gave the green-skinned woman a quizzical look. “You want to ditch the obligation to answer rule?” She chuckled, “sounds to me like you’re the one scared of what I’m going to ask.”

“I ready for anything you’ve got to throw at me, Princess. However, we played by your rules last time, so tonight we’re going to play by mine. Which, by the way, are a lot more fun.” Shego paused for a moment before adding, “unless of course you’re scared to play by **my** rules.”

“And what exactly are **your** rules?” Kim asked. She already knew that she’d agree, for backing out was not an option, but didn’t want to look like an idiot by blindly signing up to something.

“We take turns to ask a question and can either answer it, truthfully, or take a drink from the forfeit bottle. If you answer it, the other person gets to ask follow up questions until either their satisfied or you take a drink. At which point it’s the other person's turn.”

 _Oh, hell no, Shego! That gives you far too much of an advantage._ “That hardly sounds fair, given that we established last time that you can easily drink me under the table,” Kim retorted.

The raven-haired woman had anticipated that response, so simply said, “that’s why you’ll be drinking Aftershock and I’ll be drinking vodka. That should level the playing field. Every shot from my bottle will be worth at least two of yours. Sound fair?”

“Ok, you’re on,” Kim said slightly more eagerly than she perhaps should have.

_Good girl, Kimmie. Shame only one of us has a magic reset button that can literally burn off all the alcohol in her system. However, if I need to resort to my glow in order to beat you, I really will be in trouble._

It was only after agreeing that Kim thought to ask, “wait, what the hell is Aftershock?”

Shego smiled, “it’s a rather fiery cinnamon flavoured shooter.”

Kim screwed up her face, “eww. Can’t I drink apple sours instead?”

 _Ha, dream on, Kimmie._ “Not a chance. If I have to suffer the taste of straight vodka, your drinking Aftershock. And even then, you’re getting the good end of the deal.”

“How come?”

“Because Aftershock’s only 15%. So, my choice is either drink something at 30%, which will taste like paint-stripper, or give you an extra 5-10% advantage in order to get something more palatable.”

Kim pouted, “ok, fine.” While she disliked the taste of cinnamon by itself, it seemed like a fair trade-off. She then smiled internally. _If I recall correctly, two weeks ago, Shego told the barman to make the martinis with the best vodka he had. So, there’s no way she’s going to drink ‘paint-stripper’. Heh, now I just need to come up with some good questions for her._

“One more rule,” Shego then said, recalling the rather sticky situation that Kimmie had put her in last time. “While questions about previous jobs are fair game, no questions about current and or future work.”

Kim burst out laughing as the memory of Shego’s facial expression when she had asked what Drakken’s latest plan was floated through her mind. _Heh, she totally didn’t see that one coming._ “Why is the thought of screwing your boss over twice in one day too much for you?” she said playfully.

Shego had to drain the last of her drink in order to retain her composure, however, her cheeks had gone the colour of seaweed. _Oh, you are so going to pay for bringing that up, Cupcake._ She swallowed the mouthful of daiquiri before saying, “I tend to avoid mixing business with pleasure at the best of times and given that we fall on opposite sides of the hero/villain coin, it’s definitely the smart thing to do. Besides, I came out to drink in order to get **away** from Drakken and his latest crackpot idea.”

 _Ok, so she has a genuine point there. While I did it to get one over on her last week, there are probably a lot of things about our work lives that the other shouldn’t be privy to._ “Ok, agreed. However, I have one stipulation.”

“Which is?”

“We eat first then play; I’m starving.”

At the mention of food, Shego felt her stomach rumble. “I won’t argue with you there.” She then raised her hand to beckon the barman.

“What’ll it be, Ladies,” the man asked when he came over.

“Two Long Island ice teas, two portions of your sticky bourbon ribs, two shot glasses, a fresh bottle of Aftershock and a fresh bottle of your best vodka that’s less than 40%. And we’ll take it all in that empty booth over there.” She then shot Kimmie a somewhat seductive smirk before finishing with a rather well mimicked, “please and thank you.”

“Ok…” the barman replied, slightly taken aback by the hefty order. “You ladies make sure you don’t overdo it now.

“We won’t,” Kim and Shego replied together, both giving the man a cheeky grin.

Kim then turned to her rival, “looks like I’m rubbing off on you.”

Shego flashed Kimmie a devilish smile at what she perceived was intended innuendo. “Maybe by the end of the night, you will have.” _Damn, I so want to go down on you tonight, Princess._

“Too right I will have.” _A hero becoming friends with a villain might be impossible in anyone else’s book, but nothing’s impossible for a Possible._ Draining the last of her strawberry daiquiri, Kim followed Shego’s lead and got up off her barstool, picked up her coat and followed the green-skinned woman over to the empty booth in the far corner.

##

**Part Two: So I Open My Door to My Enemy…**

The waiter cleared their plates away and Shego moved the two bottles of spirits and shot glasses into the centre of the table. “Last chance to back out, Kimmie,” she said, fixing the hero with a piercing stare; her hand poised to unscrew the cap off her bottle of vodka.

Kim responded by pulling the bottle of Aftershock towards her and cracking the seal. “You wish, Shego. I’ve kicked your butt once already today, I’m more than ready to do it again.”

The green-skinned woman opened her bottle of vodka then glanced at the label; it was 37%. _Shit, this stuffs nearly two and a half times stronger than what Princess has to drink. Curse me and my unwillingness to drink paint-stripper. It had better taste good or that barman’s getting a ball of plasma up his ass._ “This time I don’t have to let you win in the end, Pumpkin. And since you’re getting off light when it comes to the forfeit bottle, I’m going first.”

Kim, who had already seen the strength of their respective bottles, gave no objection. “Go ahead.” _Two shots of that stuff she’s got in front of her is almost the same as five of this Aftershock._ She gave the bottle a quick sniff. _Eww, it doesn’t half smell bad though. However, even with her experience, a ratio of 5:2 has to be in my favour._

A thin smile tugged at the corners of Shego’s lips. They’d laughed and joked over dinner, mostly talking about nonsense and the ineptitude of a certain blue-skinned super-villain and it had given her time to think about what questions she was going to ask when things got more serious. Knowing full well that Kimmie would have been doing the same. _So, do I go for something that she’s more likely to answer and slowly try to pick her off, or do I go in guns blazing and hope I can overpower her when it comes to alcohol tolerance?_ In the end, she chose a middle ground. “What’s the most embarrassing thing the tweebs have ever done to you?”

The memory of the event flashed through Kim’s mind and her cheeks turned red. Barely pausing to think, she reached out a hand towards the bottle of Aftershock. Her eyes met with Shego’s and the grin on the green-skinned woman’s face caused her to stop. _Damn, it’s only the first question and already she’s got me taking a forfeit._ Her hand gripped the bottle, but she hesitated before pouring the shot. _No, if I can’t answer question one, how the hell am I going to be able to answer any of the others; as I bet this is no-where near the worst she’s got in store for me._ She withdrew her hand, but the expression of amusement on her opponent’s face did not waver. “They hacked my website and posted an embarrassing photo of me on the main page.”

Shego gave Kimmie a look that said her answer was not going to cut it. “What was it a photo of?”

It had been a faint hope on Kim’s part that her rival would not ask the details. Her cheeks darkened as she mumbled, “it was of me sitting on the potty after I’d finally figured out how to use it. My mom took it to show my dad.”

Shego burst out laughing, _ok, that was so worth a question. Although it begs another,_ “how on earth did Drakken and I miss **that**?”

“Because I’d put you in jail the week before,” Kim scowled. _It was the only silver lining at the time and I never thought I’d actually be telling you about it._

“Have I ever told you how much I like your brothers?” _I wonder if they still have a copy that I can barter from them?_

“You’re welcome to them.”

“Thanks, but no thanks, Kimmie. I’ve got three of my own.”

Kim gave her a quizzical look, “don’t you mean four?” _Has something happened to one of her brothers that I’ve not heard about?_

Shego smiled internally, _nicely spotted, Kimmie. Now let’s hope your curiosity gets the better of you, as I’ve no qualms about answering this one._ “Is that your question?”

Kim was about to say yes but managed to stop herself just in time. Shego had cheated like this two weeks ago, so she knew she needed to be careful with her wording and phrasing. “Only if the answers not that you simply forgot.”

“I didn’t forget.”

“Then yes. Why did you say that you only have three brothers?”

 _Perfect._ “Because the Wegos are actually only one brother.”

“Ok…” Kim said, trying to figure out what her rival might mean by that. “Does that have something to do with their glow?”

“Pretty much. When the comet gave us our powers, the first thing to happen to my youngest brother was that he split in two. While he can make multiple copies of himself at the same time, they always fade eventually; except for the original copy.”

“Wow, that’s… intense. How did that affect him?”

Shego laughed, “he became twice as annoying. However, we never found out which one was the original and which the copy. In fact, I don’t think even they know. Up until the point where they split, they have identical memories and at the time, both claimed they were the original.”

An image of the tweebs, each pointing at the other and yelling, _“he’s the fake!”_ floated through Kim’s mind. Ha, _I bet that’s exactly what happened. However, it doesn’t explain the only three brothers’ comment._ “So, do you treat one of them like he doesn’t exist?” Kim asked, finding the idea to be quite abhorrent. Despite how aggravating the tweebs could be, she’d never treat one of them like that; even if they were a copy that had sprung up one day and doubled the annoyance factor.

Shego laughed, “no. While they do a lot together, each Wego has his own life and personality; have done since very early on. I guess it’s living proof of the idea that it’s our individual experiences that make us who we are.”

Kim gave her rival a confused look. “Then why did you say you only had three brothers if they’re two different people?” The grin she received in reply told her everything she needed to know. _Dammit, she tricked me into asking that question! I guess she’s planning to play just as dirty as last time._

“My turn?” Shego asked in amusement as she drank in the red-haired vixen’s outraged expression.

“Fine,” Kim growled as she let out a huff.

The look of amusement on Shego’s face deepened. _Damn, she’s so cute when she pouts like that. Heh, for a bad girl, I really do have a weird thing for the cute ones._ The brief flash of a blonde-haired girl inside her head was quickly met with an internal ball of green plasma and she forced herself to return her attention to Kimmie. “If you’re going to act like that, Princess, you might as well start drinking that Aftershock now.”

In a show of defiance, Kim picked up her mojito; the follow up to the Long Island iced tea and took a long drink. “If you’re cheating already, you really must be scared of losing… or of what I might ask.” _And while you led me down the rabbit hole this time, it won’t happen again!_

“I’m the bad guy, remember. It’s practically in the rules that I have to cheat. However, in this instance, I didn’t cheat; your curiosity just got the better of you,” Shego countered. _If you think that’s cheating, I’d love to see your reaction if, when I’m wasted, I used my glow to sober up._ “Anyway, it’s my turn. But don’t worry, this one won’t embarrass you… much. Who would you rather spend a full night with, Bonnie or the Tweebs?”

The ridiculous nature of her rival’s second question evaporated Kim’s sour mood and she burst out laughing. “Seriously, talk about giving me a choice between a slimy rock and a sticky hard place,” however, it really was a no brainer, “but I’d take the tweebs over Bonnie any day.”

“Seriously? What has Bonnie done that’s worse than posting a picture of your potty training on your website?” Absentmindedly, Shego picked up her negroni and looked at the cocktail’s deceptive pink colour. _Yeah, probably shouldn’t have gone for a drink that has no mixer after the Long Island… Just so long as I don’t crash out of the sofa again without using my glow, or I’m going to have one motherfucker of a headache in the morning._

“You mean aside from trying to make my life a living hell ever since we first met?” Kim replied, feeling a slight flash of anger at the thought of her old schoolyard nemesis, even though it had been a long time since she’d actually encountered the girl. _Seems like some feuds die hard._ “While they bugged the hell out of me when I lived with my parents, I know how to handle the tweebs and I can even keep them occupied and limit the aggravation. On the other hand, Bonnie was always just a total bitch to me.”

There was a slight edge to Kimmie’s tone that Shego found interesting. _Cupcake really has grown up. She would never have openly called someone a bitch and with such venom, back in her teen years. However, that makes me wonder,_ “so, what does that make me? I seem to recall trying to make your life a living hell too.”

Kim grinned at her opponent, picked up the bottle of Aftershock and filled her shot glass to the brim. “You’ll have to try harder if you want that answer out of me,” she said playfully. Picking up the small glass, she brought it up to her mouth and without pausing, downed the shot. She felt the burn at the back of her throat and the overpowering taste of cinnamon on her tongue. “Ewww, this stuff tastes even worse than it smells!”

Shego laughed, _first blood to me!_ “That’s why it’s called a forfeit bottle, Princess. If it tasted nice, there would be less onus on you to answer the questions.”

Kim struggled to stifle a cough. _Ok, going to have to think twice before I decide not to answer next time; that stuff’s just plain nasty. Who the hell would willingly drink this?_ “Point taken. However, now it’s my turn.” Her next question was something that had crossed her mind two weeks ago, but she had forgotten to voice it. “Don’t take this the wrong way…”

Shego gave her rival a pointed look, like she had just caught her doing something naughty. _There’s usually only one way to take something that’s said after those words._ However, she allowed Kimmie to continue.

“…but how are you able to casually come out in public like this without drawing unwanted attention or having people run away from you… or worse? Is it some sort of mad-science perception filter or something?”

It was Shego’s turn to burst out laughing. _Ok, so I understand what she’s getting at. I guess it’s time to continue her education when it comes to heroes and villains._ “There’s no mad-science involved, but it is down to perception. It’s a common misconception that villains, ironically much like teachers, have no life outside of work. We’re supposed to spend every waking hour holed up in our lairs; hatching our evil plans, only coming out to enact them. The vast majority of people don’t realise that, funnily enough, we’re people too. We like time off, hate working late or at the weekend and actually have social lives.”

It was only as Shego spoke, that Kim realised that she too had never really shaken that belief, despite the fact she’d actually spent a social evening with the green-skinned woman. And even now it was hard to imagine Dr Drakken sitting in a bar and having a quiet drink or even more unthinkable, him drinking with friends. “Ok, but that still doesn’t answer the question.”

“I’m getting to that,” Shego admonished, taking a sip of her negroni. “When most people think of us villains, they imagine us in our work outfits. It never crosses their minds that we might actually have a different set of clothes.”

Kim could relate to that too. _I remember how weird it was the first time I saw Shego wearing something other than her catsuit. In fact, it was still a bit weird when I first saw her tonight. Heh, guess it’s something I’ll have to get used to.”_

“So, put both of those things together, Kimmie,” Shego finished in her teacher guiding student to enlightenment voice.

Kim pondered these two ideas for a moment, before answering, “the vast majority of people don’t expect to see villains in public and in casual wear. So…”

Shego gave Kimmie an encouraging smile, “keep going.”

“…when people see you, they don’t see **you**. Because they aren’t looking for a villain amongst the everyday people, they don’t see one.”

“Exactly. Dressed like this, I can go anywhere and the vast majority of people won't even look twice at me.”

 _It makes sense… apart from one detail,_ “but what about your skin tone? Surely people notice that and can connect the dots?” It was only after she asked the question, that Kim realised that the subject of Shego’s green skin might be a sensitive one. _Crap, I might have pushed too far. I have problems with my own skin and it’s got a normal complexion._

There was a time when Shego would have flinched at such a question and drank the forfeit shot. However, those days were well past her. _The perks of being a villain, you quickly stop caring what people think about you._ “The other two points override it. I imagine that most people either think I’ve got a strange medical condition or it’s some sort of weird foundation.” _And a select few don’t even notice, they automatically see past it._ The image of the blonde girl resurfaced again but was quickly replaced by one of Kimmie. _And I’ve always thought you might be one of them._ “Also, it probably helps that I’m not wearing my black lipstick.”

It was only when her rival drew attention to it, that Kim actually noticed that the green-skinned woman’s lips were not their normal black colour. She stared at Shego. In the semi-dim light of the bar, she looked completely ordinary. _Or is it simply because I’ve never seen her as anything other than an ordinary person? It’s always been about the fact that she’s a villain and whatever nefarious scheme she’s been working on._ Regardless, she was satisfied with her answers. “Ok, your turn.”

Shego did not need to pause to think on her next questions, for Kimmie’s own had already brought one to the forefront of her mind. “Since we’re on the subject of public perception, why did you choose not to play the golden girl with the press?” It was a question of genuine interest. Given that she’d always thought of the girl as little Miss Priss, it had come as a surprise when Kimmie had not embraced her celebrity status and flaunted herself in front of the cameras.

 _Ok, so unless this one has a sting in the tail that’s she’s not revealed yet, it’s easy enough to answer._ “I’ve never been a fan of the media spotlight and it certainly has no bearing on why I do my missions.” Her tone then became somewhat colder as she continued, “besides, even if I played their game and did exactly what they wanted, all they would do is build me up so they could tear me down. So, it really doesn’t matter what I do, the gutter press will trash me regardless. At least this way it’s on my terms.” She took a drink of her mojito; the taste of the Aftershock still refusing to shift.

The hero’s answer brought about a slight newfound respect from her rival. _I know precisely how you feel, Kimmie… I reacted the exact same way when I was on the hero side. I guess that’s something else we have in common._ “Fair enough,” she replied, not wishing to reveal the truth of this latest thing they shared. “Your turn.”

Kim took a moment to think before responding. Shego’s last answer having opened up a whole new avenue to explore. _There’s so much I don’t know about her and it’s never really occurred to me that she probably has a whole life outside of Drakken. I suppose her social life is probably a good place to start._ “Do you always come out to drink alone or do you hang out with your villain friends?”

 _Dammit, why’d she have to ask about friends?_ She glanced at the bottle of vodka in front of her. _I’m definitely not answering that part of the question, but I don’t want to give her the satisfaction of making me drink straight away… maybe I can redirect her interest…_ “generally speaking, I come out to drink in order to get away from people like Drakken.” _Ok, Kimmie, there’s the bait, now be a good little fish and bite it._

Kim looked at her quizzically, “generally?”

 _Gotcha! Now, let’s reel you away from the friendship subject and towards something that curiosity of yours won’t be able to resist._ “Like I said, I prefer to spend my me time away from people like Drakken. However, he did manage to drag me to karaoke night… once.”

Kim burst out laughing and actually thought the green-skinned woman had made it up. That was until she saw the look on her face that clearly said, _‘worst night out ever’_. “Wait, your serious,” she finally managed to get out.”

Shego rolled her eyes. “Yep. Every Friday night, Drakken goes out to sing karaoke. Only it gets worse. While he normally goes out to a regular karaoke bar, he actually managed to convince a bunch of people from your rogues' gallery to get together once a month to do it as well.” She then visibly shuddered when she said, “I even had to put up with it last time I was in jail.”

The idea still proved to be too ridiculous and Kim burst into another fit of hysterics. When eventually she could see straight, she replied, “so, you're telling me that Drakken, Dementor, DNAmy, Junior and co all get together and instead of plotting my demise, sing Karaoke?”

“Urgh, don’t mention Junior,” Shego said offhandedly, the memory of his jail-house performance almost enough to cause her ears to bleed all over again. “Even Drakken can’t stomach his singing.”

 _I guess they really do have lives outside of evil scheming._ As she tried to picture the scene, a thought crossed Kim’s mind and she sniggered internally. “What did you sing the night Drakken dragged you with him?”

While Shego outwardly scowled at Kimmie, she was more than happy to answer. “The question you should really have asked is, how many fireballs did Drakken get up his backside when he tried to drag me on stage.”

Kim laughed again. “So, not a fan of singing in front of a crowd then. Good to know.”

In the brief moment where Kimmie paused, Shego thought she had managed to wriggle out of the question scot-free. And she was about to open her mouth to ask her next one when the hero burst her bubble.

“So, if you avoid the other villains, do you have normal friends that you hang out with?”

 _Bastard! I thought the whole karaoke lark would have been enough for her to forget about that part of her question, shit!_ As nonchalantly as she could, Shego picked up the vodka bottle and filled her shot glass. Then, trying to hold a similar visage as the one Kimmie had when taking her first drink, she replied, “that’s something I’m not telling you.” She downed the shot. While it burnt the back of her throat, it had a much smoother taste than the cheep 30% rubbish. _Ok, so if I end up drinking a lot of this, the better taste is worth the trade-off of the increased alcohol content._

 _Hmm, I wonder why the subject of friends is a no go? Should I be worried about that?_ Kim pondered this while she waited for her rival to ask her next question; concluding that since she was actually out socialising with the green-skinned woman, the cause couldn’t be that hopeless. _Anything’s possible for a Possible._

 _Ok, Princess, time to find out just how stringent your morals are._ A thin smile danced on Shego’s lips when she asked, “have you ever deliberately let a bad guy escape? And not so you can follow them back to their lair. I mean let them go because you didn’t want to send them to jail.”

Kim tried to stifle a gulp with a drink of her mojito as she listened to the question. _Shit, I can’t answer that truthfully and certainly not when she starts prying for the details… but if I drink straight away, she’ll know anyway… Crap!_ The truth was she had and on more than one occasion. Worse yet, it had always been Shego and Drakken she’d let go. And while at the time she had pretended like she had not, always finding some explanation as to why she hadn’t pursued them, she knew now that it had been her subconscious telling her that she much preferred the green-skinned woman not being in jail. Life had always been that little bit less exciting when her arch-foes had been locked away. She sighed; _guess I don’t have a choice._ Picking up the bottle of Aftershock, she filled the glass then quickly downed the shot.

The smile on Shego’s face widened as she watched Kimmie take the forfeit. _So, Princess, your morals aren’t that hard and fast after all, good to know._ “I take it some of those times Drakken and I escaped were because you let us then?” she asked, her tone dripping with amusement. “I guess even back then you missed fighting me while I was in jail.”

Kim felt her cheeks turn red as her rival cut straight through to the truth she’d been trying to conceal. _Dammit, she really does get me one-hundred percent._ In an attempt to stem her embarrassment at having been caught out like that, she shot back, “I took the forfeit, so you don’t get to ask any follow-up questions. Which means it’s my turn.” And at the thought of Shego in jail, she knew just what to ask. “Why does it always take you so long to escape from jail? I would have thought that with your glow, no jail would be able to hold you.”

Shego’s hand immediately shot out for the vodka bottle and filled her glass. It was not a subject she liked to think about. Picking up her shot, she brought it up, only for her gaze to meet with Kimmie’s over the rim. She could see the slight look of disappointment in the girl’s eyes and wondered for a moment if she was about to be subject to the infamous puppy-dog-pout. She sighed and lowered her glass. _If I want to get anywhere with her tonight, I’m going to have to give her something. Otherwise, she’ll think I’m completely closed off and that’ll probably be the end of that._ “You can thank your friends over at GJ for that one,” she replied bitterly.

Having watched the manner in which Shego had snatched at the bottle and poured the shot, Kim was amazed when the raven-haired woman lowered her glass without drinking. She listened intently to the reply. _I guess this is going to explain why she hates GJ so much. I just hope she doesn’t change her mind when I ask,_ “what did they do?”

Shego sighed. “The first time I went to jail, they sent me to a woman’s prison. And instead of just breaking out of the transport van, I decided to be a smart-ass and let them put me inside.”

“What happened?”

“I waited until we were all out in the yard, stood up on the bleachers and got the attention of all the inmates. I then blew the wall to smithereens and led a mass jailbreak. Needless to say, it got me the wrong sort of attention. Next time I got busted they kept me in a police station while they figured out what to do with me. I escaped, but not before they stole some of my blood and ferried it off to GJ.”

“Ok…” Kim said trepidly. While she was eager to hear more, she did not want to push Shego to the point that she stopped and drank the shot.

It was somewhat foreign territory for Shego, to have someone sit and listen to her talk. In fact, bar when she had briefly taught at Middleton High during the whole Miss Go incident, Kimmie was the only person that had actually wanted to listen to her. _Urgh, the things I’ll do for a cute girl._ “The time after that, the police had a nasty surprise in store for me. Four of them pinned me down and then a doctor injected me with a serum GJ had cooked up…” she paused as a lump formed in her throat and she had to take a drink of her negroni in order to shift it. “…it suppressed my glow.”

Kim’s eyes widened in horror as she heard the subtle hint of pain in Shego’s voice when she finished. _No wonder she hates GJ. However, it makes perfect sense that they would do something like that as I can’t imagine what sort of jail it would require to actually contain her while she has use of her glow. In fact, I wonder what it’s like for her not to have it?_ In the slightly awkward silence that followed, she took a drink, but could not reign in her curiosity. “Is that want happens every time you get arrested now?”

“Yes,” Shego snapped with more force than she had intended. However, the cocktail that had mixed inside her, of alcohol plus her hatred of Global Justice, served only to loosen her tongue somewhat. “Every time I get arrested, it’s because I’m too spent to keep fighting and so those bastards treat me like some wild animal and pump me full of that shit so they can lock me up. And every time they do, GJ has managed to improve the formula and so it lasts longer.” She then picked up the glass of vodka and drunk the shot; half because she wished to put an end to Kimmie’s turn and the other because she needed the alcohol to help try and put a lid on her temper. _Fuck, I didn’t realise how much talking about that would piss me off. And it was certainly more than I wanted to share._

A wave of guilt crashed down over Kim as she listened to Shego’s angry words. She didn’t need the details to know that it was not a good feeling for the other woman to have her glow suppressed. That and she despised the idea that the police treated her like a wild animal. However, what made the whole thing worse was that she herself had been responsible for her having to undergo such treatment. _I’ve put her through that on multiple occasions, yet she’s still willing to sit here and drink with me._ So many more questions related to the subject formed in her mind, but the sight of her rival drinking her shot told her that she would entertain no more. It seemed that she had inadvertently hit upon something rather personal. “I’m sorry, Shego,” Kim eventually said, feeling the need to apologise for her part in it.

 _Oh fan-fucking-tastic, I’ve got Kim Possible apologising for sending me to jail now. I don’t want her sympathy or pity._ “Don’t worry about it, Princess,” Shego snorted. “I’m a villain by choice, so I suffer the consequences of my actions when they finally catch up with me.” Then, in an effort to put the subject to bed, she said, “besides, it’s my turn now. What’s the worst injury you’ve sustained from your hero work?”

Kim listened to the question and her mind immediately began to supply her with a play by play of all the times she’d been too slow or just plain messed up. It then zeroed in on the lacerations she had suffered to her back when Shego’s plasma heated claws had ripped through her flesh. _There’s no way I can tell Shego about that incident._ Slowly, she reached out and filled her shot glass with Aftershock. As she brought it up to her lips, her olive-green eyes caught sight of her rival’s piercing emerald ones and she had a bad feeling that the woman had just figured it out. Kim drank the shot.

The question had not been asked with the intent of hitting back and finding something that made Kimmie uncomfortable, however, it seemed Shego had managed to do just that. _Damn, I would never have guessed that would be a no-fly zone with Princess, but why?_ She thought for a moment as she watched the hero pour a shot. _The only reason she wouldn’t want to talk about it is if it’s an injury I caused._ Images of times she had landed significant blows to the red-haired vixen ran through her brain until she arrived at one in particular. _Shit! That time I clawed her back! She’d been off her game that day and Drakken had put me in such a foul mood, I took it out on her. I never even stopped to think how badly it must have hurt._ She met Kimmie’s gaze and gave no objection to her drinking the shot.

There was another somewhat awkward silence as the pair drained the last of their normal beverages. By this point, both were starting to feel the effects of three cocktails; Kim’s mojito being the only one not on the strong list, plus two shots of spirits each. And while neither was near the too much point yet, the effect was enough that they did not consider that the sensible option might be to call time on the game. For, as always, neither Kim nor Shego was willing to back down. So, instead…

“Let’s order another drink and some dessert,” Shego said, sensing that she needed to lift the mood if she hoped to get what she wanted from the night.

The thought of something dripping with chocolaty goodness was enough to bring a cheeky smile to Kim’s face. “You always knew how to tempt me.”

And with those two simple sentences, the mood was lightened once more. Shego signalled a waitress and ordered a slice of strawberry cheesecake accompanied by a margarita, while Kim opted for a hot-chocolate-fudge sundae with an apple sours and lemonade. They chatted lightly while they waited for their order to arrive and it was only after both desserts had been enjoyed to their fullest, that the game recommenced.

Kim met Shego’s emerald gaze as she cautiously said, “can I ask something about your glow?” _I know I shouldn’t ask, but it’s such an important part of who she is and I really want to find out more about it… about her._

Shego rolled her eyes at the look on enthusiasm on Kim’s face. _God, it actually feels like I’m dealing with a puppy. I give in to her once and that’s it I can’t stop. Damn that face is too cute to be allowed._ “Fine, go ahead, Princess.” She poured vodka into the shot glass, “but I’m keeping this on hand.”

 _She’s actually letting me ask about it!_ A giddy excitement shot through Kim and it felt like her rival had just opened a pair of doors in front of her. Ask the right question and she would be a step closer to friendship, ask the wrong one and it would probably be game over. Immediately she thought about the question she had wanted to ask earlier; what it was like for Shego to be without her glow. _No, that’s definitely the wrong question, she made that abundantly clear._ So, instead, she simply asked, “what can your glow do?”

Shego had to resist the urge to ignite one of her hands and say, _“doy, Princess,”_ for she knew Kimmie had not been referring to that. _What do I tell her? That it sees alcohol and most other drugs as a toxin and immediately burns them out of my system. Or that it rapidly heals my wounds but increases the pain ten-fold._ In the end, she opted to go with, “if I get wet and it’s active, it quickly evaporates the water from my skin. I think it likes to keep my body at a specific temperature.”

It had not been an earth-shattering reveal, but in that moment, it meant the world to Kim. _Wow,_ she breathed internally, _she actually shared something personal about herself._ It took her a moment and a drink of her apple sours and lemonade before she felt calm enough to say, in a cheeky manner, “so, when you come out the shower…”

“I’m wearing nothing but my birthday suit,” Shego replied with a seductive smirk.

Kim’s cheeks turned red as the image of a naked Shego, water clinging to her skin and dripping from her long raven hair formed in her mind. It was a struggle to swat it away, made more difficult by the fact that the real thing was sitting directly in front of her. _No, I like boys!_

It was a glorious sight, seeing Kimmie come over all embarrassed like that and Shego enjoyed every second of it. _Heh, I bet I know exactly what’s going through her head right now. And she is insanely cute when she gets embarrassed. Hmm, maybe it’s time I kicked things up a gear, see if she really is interested._ Her eyes tore themselves away from the red-haired vixen and stared out into the room, eventually coming to rest on the waitress that had served them their desserts. _Bingo! I’ve got just the question to ask her next. However, before I can, I need to end her turn._ “When I come out of the shower, if I turn my glow on, my skin is bone dry in seconds. The only thing it doesn’t work on is my hair, but all I need to do is run my hands through it and hey presto; job done. Happy?”

Kim, who had been forced to guzzle a large mouthful of her drink in order to help flush the image of a wet, naked Shego from her mind, set down her glass and took a deep breath. _Ok, so there is no way she missed that. God, I am so screwed if she decides to ask me about it._ Her mind now in disarray, she was unable to conjure up any further questions she might have had and so replied, “yes.”

 _Perfect!_ Shego gave Kimmie another seductive smile as she playfully said, “do you see that waitress with the poufy blonde hair and big melons over there; the one who brought us dessert?”

Kim followed Shego’s gaze and found the woman in question. She had long slender legs that ran up to a short black skirt, above which she wore a white blouse that concealed, as her rival had so astutely put it, ‘big melons’. A glance at her face revealed a petite nose, full lips that bore a sassy smile and if Kim recalled correctly from when she had served them, wild blue eyes. She must have been in her mid-twenties; about the same age as Shego and adding everything together, very pretty. _No, scratch that. She’s… hot…_ The thought crossed Kim’s mind before she could stop it and she quickly turned back to face the green-skinned woman. _No, no, no, I like boys!_ However, if she was hoping averting her gaze from the blonde waitress would help lower the embarrassment she felt from having **looked** at her, she was dead wrong.

“So,” Shego began, in a seductive tone and giving Kimmie a smile to match, “who would you rather kiss, her…” she paused for a brief moment to allow the tension to ratchet up a notch, “…or me.”

If Kim thought her cheeks had been red before, that proved to be merely smouldering embers compared with the furnace that exploded into life behind them on hearing the question. Her mouth fell open in horror as she stared into those piercing emerald eyes and took in that flirtatious smile. “I… I… I can’t answer **that!** ” she stammered. The image of Shego, butt naked and dripping wet burst into her mind once more and heaped more coal onto her internal fire.

 _Oh, this is too glorious to be allowed! Kimmie looks absolutely mortified._

“Come on, Princess, she’s pretty hot, but you know she doesn’t hold a candle to me.” Kim heard the words and had no idea whether they had been said by the real Shego or the one inside her head.

“I like boys,” Kim helplessly mumbled, more to herself but her voice was loud enough for the words to reach her rival’s ears.

Shego heard the words that tumbled out of Princess’ mouth and let out a light chuckle. _Oh, dear, Kimmie. I think someone’s having difficulty with their sexuality… meaning you’re interested but need a nudge in the right direction._ Rising from her seat, Shego leaned over and whispered in the red-haired vixen’s ear. “I’ll leave you to think about that while I go to the little girl’s room.”

Kim watched as the raven-haired woman stood up, but was unable to say or do anything to respond; her mind still in crisis from the question. Before she even knew what was happening, Shego was beside her and she could feel the woman’s warm breath caress her cheek and ear, making the small hairs on the back of her neck stand to attention. Then came the words, spoken in such a provocative manner that they caused a tingling sensation to spread out over her body from the point of contact. _Oh, God…_ before she could finish the thought, Kim felt Shego’s soft lips brush against her burning cheek. The delicate sound of the kiss reverberated through her head as she felt something akin to a ten-thousand-volt electric shock shoot through her. It sent her brain into meltdown.

The sensation of having lightly brushed her lips against Kimmie’s warm cheek fed the hunger Shego had felt growing over the course of the evening. And just the light taste of the red-haired vixen’s skin had been delicious. She stole one last tantalising look at Kimmie, gave her a wink and then walked away from the table. _You are so mine, Princess._

WARNING! DANGER! CORE BREACH IMMINENT! Like it was the evil lair of some villain, whose latest super-weapon she had just destroyed, Kim’s brain was engulfed by the sound of sirens and the bright flashing of red lights. That had not just happened! No… could not have happened! … _OH, HOLY SHIT! SHEGO JUST KISSED ME!_ The thought exploded in her mind; her internal nuclear reactor having just gone critical. _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, OH SHIT!_ Kim’s breaths came in ragged pants and her heart rate was completely erratic as she desperately tried to calm herself down. _Ok, calm the fuck down, Kim._ With great difficulty, she forced herself to take a long breath in through her nose. _It was only a light kiss on the cheek._ Shakily raising a hand, she touched the spot Shego’s lips had graced and traced the faintly moist outline with her finger. _Except it wasn’t just a kiss on the cheek…_ Hesitantly, afraid of an answer she already knew was coming, Kim added everything together. The flirtatious smile, the tempting question, the seductive whisper in her ear… the kiss… _Oh God! Shego is totally into me! And I…_

 _“No, no, no, no, NO!”_ the voice boomed inside Kim’s head and obliterated the memory from her thought process, _“YOU LIKE BOYS!”_

Whether it was out of fear, self-preservation or something else, Kim semi-reluctantly nodded her head. “I like boys,” she whispered to herself. She let out a long, slow breath, “I like boys.” … “I like boys,” she said firmly, the thought now fixed in her mind.

##

**Part three: …but she tells me to please go fuck myself**

Walking back through the still relaxed but now busy bar, Shego was surprised to see a resolute looking Kimmie when she slid back into the booth. _Ok… what the hell happened inside that head of hers while I was gone?_ Call it instinct, but she had a sinking feeling that going to the restroom had been a grave error in judgement. _Shit, I thought leaving her for a few moments to properly digest my suggestions would have opened the last of her locks. Instead, I’ve got a bad feeling they’ve all just snapped closed on me. I need to find out and quick._ She opened her mouth to say, _“so, got an answer for me, Cupcake,”_ but was stopped dead in her tracks when the girl filled her shot glass and then downed it.

Kim fixed her opponent with a determined stare. “My turn. You and Drakken. Have you ever kissed him… or more?”

The question caught Shego off guard and her mouth fell open. This was not how things had been supposed to go upon her return from the restroom. She should have had Kimmie squirming under her seductive gaze, not composed and returning fire. _Fuck, I need to nip this in the bud and get her mind back on me and only me._ She picked up her shot glass, still full from when Princess had asked her last question and said, “that time with those Moodulators,” she drank the shot, “and that’s all I’m saying.”

Kim started to laugh at the memory, but then stopped when images of her kissing Ron filled her mind…. the first time she had ever kissed Ron. _It should have been the only time._ She felt a wave of sorrow crash over her. _Mabey if it had been, we’d still be best friends._ Kim’s eyes then drifted back to Shego. _Ron might be gone, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make new friends._

For the first time that night, Shego was unsure of how to proceed. Slowly but surely over the course of the evening, Kimmie had opened up to her, even threw in a few flirty looks and remarks and it had affirmed in her mind that this had been a date. Then she’d upped the ante. Planted the seed in the girl’s head and enjoyed the deliciousness of her embarrassment. Finally, that kiss on her cheek should have left Princess in no doubt as to what she wanted… what she had assumed the girl wanted too but had been struggling to come to terms with. Except now she was sure all her work had been somehow undone. _What the hell do I do now? I thought for sure that Kimmie and I were on the same wavelength, that this was a date. Yes, she was embarrassed over the whole shower comment and then again when I asked her who she’d rather kiss, but I thought that was purely down to her having not fully come to terms with liking girls… liking me._ She sighed internally, _there’s only one thing for it. I’m going to have to take the direct approach._ “Kimmie,” she ventured tentatively; seeing as it was now her turn, “was tonight supposed to be a date?”

Kim heard the question and felt her resolve wobble slightly. However, from the depths of her mind, the voice from earlier sharply reminded her, _“no, you like boys!”_ and she quickly regained her composure. _This is not a date; I only want to be her friend._ “I’m sorry, Shego, but I like boys. This was only supposed to be a drink between friends.”

Had it not just felt like Kimmie had kicked the door closed in her face, Shego might have questioned the fact that her opponent's words did not quite match up with her earlier actions. However, that plus Princess’ use of the f-word, had set her mind straight on the defensive. _I should have known better,_ Shego admonished internally. _Of course, little miss Priss was never going to be interested in me. Not only am I a villain, but a woman to boot._ Instantly she felt her mood darken.

“But I really do want us to be friends,” Kim hastily added, trying to sound hopeful. However, she could see the expression on Shego’s face had soured. _Fuck, she really was into me and I’ve inadvertently led her to believe that this was supposed to be a date tonight._ When the green-skinned woman said nothing, she quickly added, “I’ve really enjoyed spending time with you and I think, outside of work, we can be good friends.”

The offer was too much for Shego to handle and despite the strong desire she had felt to sleep with the red-haired vixen, her disarrayed thoughts consolidated around her resolute standpoint when it came to the f-word. _I don’t do friends!_ She locked onto Kimmie’s olive-green eyes with a piercing glare and felt a flicker of anger. _And after leading me on all night, the fact she has the audacity to even ask is insulting._ “Are you completely delusional, Kimmie?” she snorted in derision, her words chosen to hurt. “You’re a hero and I’m a villain; we’re enemies. What indication did I ever give you that I wanted to be your friend?”

While the look on Shego’s face had prepared Kim for the worst, actually hearing the green-skinned woman say it with such contempt, felt worse than any of the blows she had sustained during their battle earlier in the day. _How can she be so callous? I genuinely thought she’d had as much fun as I did two weeks ago and again tonight._ Unfortunately, while she felt hurt by Shego’s response, Kim knew she could not let it show. For to do so, would be to show weakness to… to her enemy. So, instead, she fired back, “I thought you were enough of a rebel to ignore such lines in the sand. But I guess I was wrong.”

 _Hell no, Kimmie. You’re the one who led me on._ “Yeah, well that makes two of us,” Shego snorted, her feelings towards the girl quickly hardening. “I thought you were someone who knew not to mess with fire unless you were serious about learning how to eat it.” She let her words hang, knowing that it would take the girl a few moments to figure them out. The urge to leave had already made itself known, but she forced herself to stay put. _There’s no way I’m giving any ground to little Miss Priss and letting her think she’s won._

 _What the hell is that supposed to mean?_ It took Kim a moment, but eventually, she worked it out. The fire was obviously Shego and the, ‘learning how to eat it,’ part, a euphemism that, when stripped of its sexual connotation, equated to a date. The green-skinned woman had clearly been referring to her stipulation should Kim decide to ask her out on a date. She chose to ignore it. While she knew Shego would take her leaving as a sign of surrender, on this occasion, Kim did not care. She sighed internally. _I don’t care what she thinks. Tonight was a dumb idea and I was even dumber for ever thinking that Shego might want to be my friend. I just want to go home and forget this whole stupid thing ever happened._ Picking up her glass, she downed the last of its contents. She then fixed her opponent with a look of contempt. “Yeah, well, I guess I’ll see you around,” she said flatly as she grabbed her jacket. Without waiting for a reply, she climbed out of the booth; staggering ever so slightly and marched off.

“Yeah, see you around, Princess,” Shego called out curtly as she watched the red-haired vixen leave. Picking up the bottle of vodka, she forewent the part where she filled the glass and instead took a large swig. _Well, that was a fucking disaster. Now, what am I supposed to do for fun tonight?_ While she asked herself the question, the answer was irrelevant. Her libido had gone the way of the dodo the moment Kimmie had dropped the bombshell that this hadn’t been a date. Exchanging the vodka for her margarita, she drained the glass. “Guess it’s you guys and me back at my place,” she then said, screwing the caps on both bottles of spirits and scooping them up. Shakily, she got to her feet and after a few steps met with a depressing reality; she was too drunk to drive. _Shit, I’m going to have to use my glow to sober up for the trip home or risk trashing the Blackbird._ It was the last thing she wanted to do, but she had no choice. _Guess I’ll be starting back at square one when I get home._ As she staggered towards the exit, she let out a mirthless laugh at her own thought. Going back to square one seemed to be an apt metaphor for how the evening had panned out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, know we know what happened on Kim and Shego’s not-date. As you have all probably gathered by now, it is not going to be easy for these two ladies to get together in this story. 
> 
> When I sat down to write this ‘one-shot’, I soon realised that I had underestimated the depth and complexity of Kim and Shego’s relationship. In that respect, I could not come up with any justification, in my opinion, as to how or why they would get together in only one evening. It has been this principle that has underlined everything I have written since and is serving as my guide as I continue to develop the story. While it is going to take me longer to get there, I think the journey is just as important as the destination. And at times it is not going to be easy. 
> 
> I don't know what you guys thought, but I genuinely felt sorry for both Kim and Shego during this chapter as they were both at fault and at the same time the victim of a simple misunderstanding that has driven a wedge between them.
> 
> Now that the dust has settled, I'll tell you that the chapter title, Poles apart, is the name of a song from Pink Floyd's The Division Bell. I chose this title as I felt it summed up the fact that Kim and Shego were on different wavelengths all night and did not realise it until too late. In terms of the part names (yeah, I know, I was probably pushing into the pretentious zone by splitting the chapter into parts), part one is the title of a song by Roger Waters (read ex-Pink Floyd) from his album, Is this the life we really want? and fit the set-up at the start of the chapter perfectly. Parts two and three had their titles taken from the lyrics to the song Lost for words, also from Pink Floyd's The Division Bell. In this instance, I thought it was a great pair of lyrics to use as the song is about trying to make peace with your enemies, only to have them tell you to go fuck yourself; the exact sentiment both Kim and Shego feel come the end of the chapter.
> 
> Moving forward, the next update will probably be two chapters, dealing with the aftermath of the not-date. After that, we'll have Kim's Saturday and possibly a chapter seeing what Shego gets up to (if I can come up with an idea that I like).
> 
> Anyway, thank you all for taking the time to read this update; I really do hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you all next time for the aftermath.
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


	15. You re-arange me 'till I'm sane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone and welcome back to another thrilling update of And You And I... ok, so maybe thrilling is overdoing it a little, but I’ll leave that for you guys to decide ;).
> 
> After the rather disastrous end to Kim and Shego’s not-date in the final chapter of the last update, it’s time to catch up with our lovely ladies in the aftermath of it and see how they deal with it. Hence, why this is a two chapter update. So, we’ll start out with Kim here in chapter 15 and then go see Shego in chapter 16. I had initially pondered including these chapters in the last update, but I felt it was more dramatic to end things where I did, which also meant you got the last update sooner.
> 
> For this chapter title, we’re revisiting our old friend; Brain Damage, from Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. The lyric in question, ‘you re-arrange me ‘till I’m sane’, is from the same verse as the one from chapter 8. While I thought about changing the word sane, I decided it was better left as a rather apt metaphor for where Kim’s mind is at. Come the end of the chapter, I’m sure you’ll all have figured out what word, beginning with St, that I had thought about using instead.
> 
> Before we begin, as in chapter 5, I must again stress that any views on sexuality that are portrayed in this work are based on my own experiences of people back in the early to mid-2000s and purely represent those of the respective characters, not my own.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this update and I’ll see you all at the start of chapter 16.

For the second Friday in a row, Kim slammed the door to her apartment closed and could think of nothing but suiting up in her mission gear and accepting the first job that would take her out of Middleton. Staggering through to her workroom, she turned on the PC and then wrenched open the doors to the wardrobe. Pulling out a light-blue variant of her standard mission attire, she hung it up on the door before lifting her left foot to start unlacing her Converse. Her fingers ineptly pulled at the laces. _Come on you stupid… ARGH!_ she lost her balance and crashed down onto her bruised ribs. The sudden sharp pain was enough to slice through the red mist of rage. “Oww,” she whimpered as a tear threatened to escape from one olive-green eye. It was several moments before she shakily managed to get to her feet.

 _Ok, so I’m too drunk to even take my shoes off. Guess going on a mission would be a bad idea._ She ignored the running PC and her hanging mission outfit as she exited the room and made for her bedroom. Fetching a fresh pair of purple pyjamas from her normal wardrobe, she wisely sat down on the edge of her bed to change; wincing every time she had to twist or bend her torso. _Heh, I bet mom would give me a serious talking to if she could see my ribs right about…_ Kim’s mouth fell open at the realisation of what she had been about to do before she’d fallen over. _Shit, I was about to storm off on a mission and bail on mom again!_ Fortunately, that was not going to happen now, but it led to a worrying thought, _do I care so little for my family now that I can forget about them so easily? Or do I just dislike being back home so much that I’ll use any excuse to jet off on a mission?_ She laughed a little bit too much when a third option crossed her mind, _or is this all a product of being drunk?_

Flopping back against her pillow, she reached out a hand and plucked Pandaroo off the nightstand. “Am I a bad daughter, Pandaroo?” she asked the Cuddle Buddy; holding him aloft.

As expected, the stuffed toy did not respond.

“It’s not that I don’t want to go and see mom and dad, it’s just…” she trailed off, finding it difficult to articulate the reason. “…it’s just… it’s just that I wish when I went over there, they’d take more of an interest in all the fun and exciting parts of my life,” a bubble of annoyance burst inside her, “not focus on either the mundane crap that happens when I’m stuck here in Middleton or on whatever injuries I might be carrying! I just want them to stop worrying and trying to protect me. I can look after myself! Right, Pandaroo.”

The Cuddle Buddy stared back at Kim with lifeless eyes, yet she interpreted its non-existent response as a sign of agreement.

“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t need people to protect me. I protect other people.”

Kim set the stuffed toy down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. _Tonight totally sucked! …ok, so not all of it sucked. In fact, most of it was really good fun._ She hit the mattress with both fists. _That’s what makes it so damn infuriating! Everything was great up until the end when Shego threw everything back in my face!_

_“But wasn’t that your fault?” a voice inside her head asked._

_In what way was it my fault?_ Kim replied indignantly. _I tried to be friends with her and she pretty much told me to fuck off!_

 _“Geez, I don’t know…”_ the voice replied sarcastically, _“…maybe you led her to believe that tonight was supposed to be a date?”_

Kim thought about this for a moment, before shooting back, _all I did was ask her if she wanted to go for a drink, that’s it. A perfectly innocuous drink. It’s something that friends do all the time._

_“Except you know fine well that she was the one who suggested you ask her out and that the invite had been framed as a date. She never said anything about going out as friends.”_

_“What indication did I ever give you that I wanted to be your friend?”_ Shego’s biting remark from earlier that night played through Kim’s mind and aligned perfectly with what the voice had just suggested. Only it made no sense to her. _How can you go on a date with someone you’re not friends with?_

_“Because not everyone is you and has to date their best friend. People go on dates all the time with other people that they’ve never even met before.”_

_But wouldn’t they want to **become** friends with one another? Isn’t that important for a good…_

_“…relationship?”_ the voice cut in. _“Yes, it is. But a date or the act of dating someone is not the same as a relationship.”_

It may have been a result of the alcohol in her system, but Kim found it difficult to come by the answer without asking, _fine, what’s the difference?_

_“Like friendship, a relationship involves commitment. However, with a date, there is no obligation for you to do anything beyond that singular event.”_

_So what? Are you suggesting that Shego never wanted to be my friend?_

Kim could almost hear the sound of a hand slapping a forehead ring inside her head; causing her to wince slightly. _“Well, duh! What part of, ‘what indication did I ever give you that I wanted to be your friend?’ did you fail to grasp?”_

_Hey, leave me alone, I’m drunk!_

_“Don’t you mean **we’re** drunk? You think I get immunity from you chugging down cocktails and shots all night?” _

It was a rare occurrence that Kim was forced into an argument inside her own head. Normally, her thoughts were well collected and even if she was unsure about something, she could work through it logically without it resulting in part of her brain mutinying and starting to undermine and berate all her thoughts and decisions.

 _“Besides,”_ the voice continued, _“we can deal with your underage drinking another time.”_

 _Great, now your starting to sound like mom… if mom knew I drank,_ she replied bitterly. Given that she would probably be getting the third degree tomorrow from the real thing, the last thing she needed was part of her own head harping on at her.

_“Count yourself fortunate that she doesn’t, but that’s not important. Right now, let’s get back to how you led Shego into believing that this was supposed to be a date.”_

_Fine,_ Kim replied as she rolled her eyes. From past experience, scarce as it might have been, she knew that if she lay there and tried to ignore the voice it would not go away; simply continue to pester her until she gave in and acknowledged it. So, better to just get it over and done with, then she could sleep. _You were talking about dating, friendship and relationships… Urgh, this sounds like social education with Mr Barkin._ As if on cue, she heard the booming voice of her old teacher say, _“_ _all right, listen up people. Today’s topic is the difference between friendship and a relationship.”_

When the memory of Mr Barkin died down, the voice took over once more. _“Something like that. Shego invited you to ask her on a date, not to become friends and for two very good reasons.”_

Kim rolled her eyes, _which are?_

_“A) A date involves no commitment beyond turning up for it and B) a date allows you to do certain things that you can’t when it’s just a drink between friends.”_

_So, what you’re saying is, Shego wanted to go on a date with me so she could sleep with me_ ** _and_** _have no obligation to call me in the morning?_ She didn’t need the voice to reply to know that had probably been the case.

It replied anyway, _“aren’t you a clever girl, of course that’s what she wanted. And you were responsible for leading her to think that it was a date.”_

A scowl formed on Kim’s face at the way her own mind was treating her. Apparently, she could be a right bitch to herself in these situations, foreign as they were. _Ok, so maybe I should have said I wanted to just go out as friends, but that was just one minor detail. I never did anything other than that to make her think it might have been a date._

_“Don’t act all ignorant, it’s unbecoming of you,” the voice chastised. “You were flirting with her on and off all night.”_

_I did not!_ Kim fired back in outrage.

If the voice had a face with which to look at her, Kim knew it would have a pointed expression as it said, _“really? So that wasn’t you who spent several minutes checking her out, giving her seductive smiles and looks or saying things like, ‘you always knew how to tempt me’?_

A look of indignance formed on Kim’s face and she physically opened her mouth but closed it again when the memories to back up each one of those actions passed through her mind. _But… I…_ she stammered.

_“…almost let yourself get pied-piper’ed off to some cheap hotel, where Shego would have done god knows what to you?” the voice cut in. “Yeah, I’m well aware of that. I was there, remember?”_

Kim’s cheeks burned bright red at the insinuation. _I wasn’t going to let her take me off to some hotel!_

_“Don’t lie, Kimmie. You willingly chewed down on that bait and let her reel you in. She even got you out of the water with that kiss she planted on your cheek. You just got lucky that she went to the restroom and I was able to toss you back in.”_

The memory of the moment engulfed Kim’s mind. She could see the flirtatious smile on Shego’s lips as she rose from the seat opposite. Smell the hints of mint and eucalyptus in the woman’s long raven hair as she bent over beside her. Feel warm breath touch her skin and the hairs on the back of her own neck stand on end. Hear those seductive words whisper in her ear, _“I’ll leave you to think about that while I go to the little girl’s room.”_ Then Shego’s soft lips pecking her burning cheek. It had sent a jolt through her like nothing she had ever felt before. Even the memory of the event set Kim’s heart racing. She then heard her own brain frantically yell, _“Oh shit,”_ over and over, before it finally realised what it had all meant. Shego had been into her and she’d…

“Oww,” Kim cried out in pain, her head suddenly hurting at the recollection of the voice that had yelled, _“no, no, no, no, NO! YOU LIKE BOYS!”_ so ferociously at her. The pain quickly ebbed and when she could think straight again, the first thing that came to her mind was, _that was you!_

 _“Give the hero a medal,”_ the voice then said; brimming with sarcasm. _“Of course it was me. I’m the only part of you that seems to be sane these days. And I stopped **you** from doing something exceptionally stupid. You should be thanking me!”_

Kim did not know how to respond. Before tonight, she thought she’d put the whole sexuality thing to bed. She liked boys; case closed. However, there had been moments tonight, when she knew that resolve had wavered. _Would I have gone off with Shego if…?_

_“If she’d asked and I hadn’t stepped in to save your sorry hide? You tell me?”_

_Yes, no, maybe…_ “I don’t know!” Kim cried out. _All I know is that I had more fun with her tonight than I’ve had in a long time and it’ll never happen again because she doesn’t want to be my friend!_ Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes and there was nothing she could do to stop them from pouring forth. Rolling onto her side, she made a grab for Pandaroo, succeeding on the third attempt and pulled him tightly into her chest as she curled up into the foetal position. “Is it so wrong for me to want a friend who just gets me, Pandaroo?”

The soothing silence of the Cuddle Buddy’s reply was enough to initiate the process of her calming down.

Taking deep breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth, Kim felt the tears slowly begin to subside. _Ok, so tonight I got a taste of something that I can’t have… and it sucks, royally. But there’s no point in crying about it…_

 _“Exactly,”_ the voice butt in.

Kim frowned, that was new. Even though she did not have much experience when it came to this sort of internalised argument, the other side had never agreed with her. _Ok…_ she thought hesitantly, expecting there to be some sort of catch, _…why are you agreeing with me?_

_“Because you’re right.”_

A look of suspicion formed on her face; _I’m not buying that answer._

_“Ok, fine. I’m glad that you won’t be socialising with Shego again and you should be too.”_

Now that sounded far more like it. _Well, I’m not. There might be no point crying over it, but it doesn’t mean that I have to like it._

 _“She was bad for you,”_ the voice said firmly.

 _In what way was she bad for me?_ Kim fired back hotly. _Was it because she understood me? Or because I could be myself around her? Or perhaps because I didn’t feel in any way self-conscious around her?_

_“She was bad for you because of how easily she could get to you! Do you realise how vulnerable you would have been, had she taken you off to a hotel in your current state? You couldn’t even take a shoe off without falling over!”_

The memory of what had happened in her workroom floated through Kim’s mind and she shuddered. The voice was right, she would have been exceptionally vulnerable had she let Shego take her off to a hotel. And regardless of whether Shego would have done anything sinister to her or not, that was something Kim Possible could not stomach. _Ok, so maybe it would have been a bad idea had I wound up in some hotel room with her._

_“Exactly. However, that’s not the only thing I’m talking about.”_

_Ok… what else is there?_

_“There’s also the way she’s had you questioning yourself over the past few weeks.”_

_Questioning myself?_

_“This whole ‘do I like girls’ nonsense,”_ the voice said resolutely. _“She caught you in a bad moment, showed you a good time and then manipulated you into questioning your own sexuality by making that clever ‘date’ comment.”_

A look of confusion spread across Kim’s face. _How do you figure that out?_

_“Because you let slip that you’d had a good time with her and so to get what she wanted; namely you in bed with her, she played on the idea that you would want to do it again by giving you a route to it that involved you deciding that you liked girls.”_

_No… she wouldn’t…_

_“Wouldn’t what? Try to manipulate you in order to get what she wanted? Hello, earth to Kim, she’s a villain. It’s exactly what she would do…”_

Kim slowly started to think this argument through. Shego was a villain, there was no disputing that fact. And she had been known to do underhanded things to get what she wanted. But would she do something as heinous as that? _I’m not sure…_

_“…And then, when it became clear that she wasn’t going to get what she wanted, she told you to go fuck yourself. She never gave a crap about what you wanted.”_

Kim added that thought to the mix. The instant she had told Shego that their evening had not been a date, the green-skinned woman had turned on her and been rather callous and cruel about it too. _Yeah… you’re right. She never gave a damn about what I might have wanted from the evening. It was all about her not getting what she wanted!_

_“Precisely. Now do you see why you are better off without her?”_

Kim nodded her head, _yeah, I do._ When an image of the green-skinned woman floated through her mind, she punched it square in the face. “Screw Shego!” she yelled out loud. Any feelings of sorrow or sadness she might have felt quickly evaporated as anger and rage coursed through Kim’s veins. She had been nothing but nice to the other woman, who had only tried to manipulate her, confuse her and made her question her own sexuality. “I like boys!” she said firmly.

_“That’s my girl. Now, what are you going to do next time you encounter that green-skinned succubus?”_

_I’m going to kick her ass and then personally hand her over to the police. Heh, maybe if I ask nicely, they’ll let me give her a little injection._ It was a nasty thought and given that earlier in the night, she’d actually felt sorry for Shego when it came to what the police did to her, it was one Kim might not have had if sober. However, as things stood, she could think of nothing more gratifying than personally being allowed to take the green-skinned woman’s glow from her. _Maybe if I’m lucky, GJ’s latest iteration will suppress it permanently._

_“Good girl,” the voice said softly in a tone of approval. “Now, why don’t you go to sleep? You’ve got another trying day ahead of you tomorrow.”_

_Don’t remind me,_ Kim groaned as she reached out with a hand and pulled the covers over her. Snuggling down with Pandaroo, she closed her eyes as one last thought floated through her head, _I like boys._


	16. You drown me out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so just briefly before we catch up with Shego, the chapter title, ‘You drown me out’, is the name of a song by a little band called The Blackheart Orchestra (formally Blackheart), taken from their second (fifth) album Mesmeranto. I very much liked the double meaning behind this title when applied to this chapter. Given how obscure and (relatively) new this band is and how much I love their music, I feel the need to suggest you go give them a listen either on Youtube, Spotify or Apple music. Seriously, if you can spare three minutes, do go listen to Drown me out or better yet, if you can spare seven, listen to Hypnotize. Personally, I find it incredible how much music just two people can create, especially when they can reproduce it live without using any pre-recorded stuff. 
> 
> Anyway, enough from me and my random musical tastes. Enjoy chapter 16: You drown me out.

Shego viciously kicked the front door closed behind her and if it were not for the fact it had some mad-science steel running through its core, her foot would unquestionably have gone through it. Storming into the living room, she threw herself down onto the sofa. With a loud bang, she slammed Kimmie’s bottle of Aftershock onto the glass surface of the coffee table and was lucky not to have shattered it. In her other hand, she held the vodka that had been her forfeit bottle and wasted no time in unscrewing the cap. She was pissed and not in the fun sense that involved having drunk copious amounts of alcohol, although she had in fact done that. No, she was pissed at the way in which the evening had turned sour, at herself for letting her guard down around Kimmie and for having to burn the alcohol out of her system in order to ride home. Throwing the cap onto the coffee table, she brought the bottle up to her lips and swallowed a large mouthful, burning the back of her throat in the process.

 _The only saving grace,_ she thought bitterly as she reached down to unzip her boots before viciously kicking them off. She was, of course, referring to the fact that the vodka tasted semi-pleasant without any sort of mixer. Or at least as pleasant as straight vodka could be. Personally, if she were drinking straight spirits for enjoyment, she’d much rather a proper Scottish malt whiskey. However, this was not drinking for pleasure, no. This was drinking in order to inhibit her own thoughts to the point that she wouldn’t be able to tell the letter A from the number 1. All in the name of avoiding…

 _“…well, that was a fine mess you made of this evening,”_ the voice of her own little pain in the ass said in a sarcastically light-hearted manner.

 _Go away!_ Shego snapped as she took another large mouthful of vodka. Her eyes looked at the level of liquid left in the bottle. In hindsight, it had been quite the waste of money; paying for a full bottle at Spritzers mark-up price, when she had only drunk three shots out of a potential seventeen during the course of their game. Granted, she had anticipated it lasting a lot longer. However, she’d had about the equivalent of another three since; meaning there was roughly eleven left. She groaned, _probably going to need another bottle in order to shut that smug asshole up._ Her eyes drifted to the Aftershock on the table. While it definitely tasted worse than the vodka, she would probably be drunk enough not to care by the time she started on it, so it was better that than something far nicer from her liquor cabinet.

_“So, should we start with how you spectacularly misread Kimmie’s signals, or jump straight in at the part where you were a complete and utter bitch to her?”_

_If you don’t shut the hell up, I’m going to chug this whole bottle right here, right now!_ Shego spat viciously. She took another drink as if to emphasize her point.

_“Oh, please. Like you haven’t tried that one before,” he little devil’s advocated mocked sarcastically. “You know fine well it doesn’t work.”_

She ground her teeth. Unfortunately, the smug bastard was right. As though it had a mind of its own, which she had a sneaking suspicion it might, her glow had a tendency to activate itself if it judged her life might be in danger. Absentmindedly, she rubbed at a thin scar on her left wrist; she’d found that out the hard way. Regardless, it saw a quick, mass influx of alcohol into her system as something potentially hazardous and so activated itself in order to burn it off. It didn’t stop her drinking a full bottle of vodka over the course of an hour or so, just if she tried to consume the same amount within a few minutes. Which meant she would be at the mercy of her little devil’s advocate until such time as she could slowly build up the level of alcohol in her bloodstream.

When it received no meaningful response from her, the devil’s advocate rolled its non-existent eyes and said, _“why don’t we start out with something easy?”_

 _I am not doing this!_ Shego reiterated and took another drink of defiance.

_“How about this, I’ll go easier on you if you admit that, prior to leaving for the restroom, you had fun tonight?”_

_Fuck off! Tonight, was just one big, stupid waste of time and I would have rather not bothered, **like I originally planned**. And I did **not** have fun!_

_“Really? So, you didn’t go to the same bar and meet the same person I did?”_

_What part of having Kimmie throw everything back in my face did you find remotely fun?_ Shego fired back, going on the offensive.

The image of a waging finger filled her mind and was accompanied by an irritating _“at-at-ah,”_ sound.

_What?_

_“We’re not talking about what happened **after** you came back from the restroom, we’re talking about the bulk of the evening that came **beforehand**.” _

Shego chose to ignore this apparently important distinction and took another drink. _I so do not have the energy to put up with this shit for the next hour or so._

_“Come on, say it with me, until I came back from the restroom I had...”_

She felt a flash of anger and had to resist the urge to ignite her hands, lest she want to go back to square one in terms of her inebriation attempt. _I will not!_

_“Wow, this is really bugging you. You must have had a lot of fun and be feeling some major guilt if you’re having to suppress the plasma balls already.”_

Her knuckles turned white as she channelled her anger into gripping the vodka bottle. _What the fuck do I have to feel guilty about? Kimmie’s the one who invited me out on that stupid non-date; then kept flirting with me all evening until the point when she told me to go fuck myself._

The devil’s advocate sighed, _“ok, I see you are not to be deterred. Let’s talk about what happened when Kimmie rejected you and how you might have misread the situation.”_

 _I didn’t misread the situation,_ Shego growled and took another drink. _I let my guard down and allowed Princess to lead me down a hole so she could then shovel that pile of friendship shit on top of me._

_“So, there’s no chance you misread her signals because you wanted it to be a date?”_

_Absolutely not. I told Kimmie she could ask me out on a **date** , not to have a drink as friends. And that’s what she did. End of story. _She poured more vodka down her throat as she waited for the inevitable reply.

_“Just because you invited her to ask you out on a date, doesn’t mean that’s what she did. In fact, I’m pretty sure all she said was, ‘how about after I blow up that stupid death-ray, you and I go out for a drink?’ What part of that screams **date** to you?”_

The memory of the event played inside Shego’s still fully functional mind and she found she could not argue with her little devil’s advocate on this occasion. _Ok, so maybe I decided it was a date because I didn’t want it to be a drink between friends. However, I did not misread the signals Kimmie kept sending me all night._

_“And what signals might those have been?”_

_Like you didn’t notice!_ Shego thought indignantly. _When I arrived, she was so checking me out. Then there were all those flirtatious smiles._ An unwanted memory of Princess doing just that floated through her mind and elicited a momentary flutter of excitement inside her. Against her will the thought, _Kimmie is so darn cute,_ managed to form before she managed to lay waste to both it and the image with an internalised burst of plasma. _Not to mention some of her comments, such as, ‘you always knew how to tempt me’._

_“Ok, yeah, you were right, she was definitely flirting with you.”_

The comment caused Shego to almost choke on a mouthful of vodka. She broke out into a coughing fit, some of the residual liquid spraying out of her mouth. “What?” she declared in a mix of shock and amazement. _There is no way I just heard that smug asshole agree with me._ Her eyes immediately glanced at the vodka bottle. _Only I’ve not drunk nearly enough to have hallucinated it. Ok, what gives? What sort of pitfall trap are you trying to lead me into this time?_

 _“No trap,”_ the devil’s advocate said airily. _“I happen to agree with you on that point.”_

 _Then why the hell have you wasted all this time arguing **against** it? _Shego barked in confusion. She was not buying this. That bastard never just agreed with her.

_“Well, doy! That’s my job. I provide you with the alternatives that you don’t want to hear and then we come to an agreement about what the right answer is... sort of. Anyway, in this instance, you were right, Kimmie was flirting with you. However, you still needed to go through the process in order to sort out your thoughts and move forward.”_

_Urgh,_ Shego groaned and took a drink. _I really do hate you._

_“Not as much as you’re hating yourself right about now.”_

_Pfft,_ she scoffed, _and why would I hate myself at the moment? I wasn’t the one who told me to fuck off._

_“Because you squandered the opportunity to have something more with Kimmie than just a rivalry.”_

_Weren’t you paying any attention? **She** told **me** to fuck off first._ The memory of Princess sitting in front of her and then opening her mouth to say, _“I’m sorry, Shego, but I like boys. This was only supposed to be a drink between friends,”_ filled her mind and she felt the anger and, though she tried to deny it, pain, all over again. She growled at the idea of Kimmie feeling sorry for her, _I don’t need nor want her pity!_

 _“God, you can be so dense sometimes,”_ the devil’s advocate admonished.

Shego chose to ignore the remark and took another drink. There was only about three shots worth left in the bottle and she was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol hitting her bloodstream. Her normally perfect vision had blurred slightly around the edges and she could feel a sluggish imprecision about her movements. It would not be long before she got the weird semi-outer-body feeling, like she was sitting just out with her own head and watching on as her body carried out actions she was not fully aware of.

_“Did you stop to think that Kimmie might just be struggling with the idea that she likes girls... likes you?”_

_Why would I? She made it perfectly clear that she likes boys._ She heard the sound of Princess’ voice reiterate the statement, _“I’m sorry, Shego, but I like boys.” Seems pretty clear cut to me._

 _“Well, doy! Of course, that’s what she’d say if she’s having difficulty in coming to terms with her sexuality!”_ the devil’s advocate practically yelled at her; causing a minor stab of pain in the back of her skull. _“I seem to recall you had similar issues, remember?”_

_Yeah, well I don’t care. She told me to fuck off and that’s the end of the matter as far as I’m concerned. She can keep her boys, as I won’t be spending any more time her. Unless she shows up to rumble one of Drakken’s plans..._

_“Well, if that doesn’t sound like the voice of someone who’s hurting…”_

“I am not hurting because of Kimmie!” Taking another long drink from the bottle was all she could do to stop her hands erupting in green flames.

_“…yep, definitely the sound of someone that’s feeling hurt at being rejected…”_

“Shut up!” In a fit of rage, Shego threw the near-empty vodka bottle against the wall; where it exploded into a dozen fragments.

 _“Well done, you sure showed that bottle whose boss,”_ her little devil’s advocate mocked. _“Although, I guess it got off light when compared with how you probably made Kimmie feel.”_

Shego drew sharp breaths in through gritted teeth as her nails dug into her palms; desperately trying to keep control of her frayed temper. “JUST SHUT UP!” She was perhaps lucky that she was not yet too drunk to see the warning signs. Quickly rising from the sofa, she staggered towards the door to the rear porch. She had just thrown it open and stepped out into the still night air when…

_“Why, because you’re angry at Kimmie for rejecting you? Or is it because you’re angry at yourself for the way you treated her?”_

She snapped. Hands erupting in super-heated green plasma; as she let out an almighty roar, “ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Hotter and hotter her body temperature soared as her glow engulfed her and the intensity of the flames surrounding her hands increased tenfold. The sheer amount of energy that she held at her fingertips was both incredible and frightening. Thrusting her hands forward, Shego released a continuous burst of plasma towards the heavens. Had there been a satellite overhead at that point in time, it would certainly have seen the blast, which lasted no less than two solid minutes. All the while the tranquil night air was torn asunder by the raven-haired woman’s continued scream.

Sweat covering her forehead; that was struggling not to be vaporised, Shego’s breaths came in laboured pants as the intense green flames that surrounded her hands finally faded and they slowly fell to her sides. The alcohol had been completely burned from her system and so she was once again blind stinking sober. She could not recall the last time she had gathered and released such a tremendous burst of energy. Shakily, she turned and had to grab the doorframe for support as she tried to stagger back into the house; she was completely spent.

 _“Feel better?”_ the devil’s advocate asked, its voice carrying a hint of concern.

 _No,_ Shego growled as she stumbled through the living room and into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, her hand hovered over a beer, before finally picking up a bottle of water. After such an intense explosion from her glow, she needed to rehydrate. Cracking the seal, she unscrewed the cap and drained the contents in one long drink. She took another with her and deposited the empty one in the trash on her way out. Making her way through the ground floor, she reached the stairs and had to grip the handrail as she ascended.

_“Do you want to talk about it?”_

_Fuck off!_

_“I’ll take that as a no then.”_

Shego staggered more as she made her way to her bedroom; the climb having sapped much of her remaining strength. She sat down on the edge of her bed and struggled to pull off her clothes and change into a pair of black silk pyjamas.

_“You know…”_

_I don’t care!_ she spat viciously. She opened the other bottle of water, drunk half the contents, then set it down on the nightstand before slipping herself between the sheets.

 _“Ok,”_ the devil’s advocate said in a tone of resignation, _“but you’ll have to deal with it sooner or later.”_

 _I just did. So, you can fuck off and so can Kimmie. I don’t want or need friends! Or anyone else for that matter. I’m perfectly fine by myself!_ Shego allowed her head to flop back on the pillow and she closed her eyes. She was so exhausted after the explosion of her glow that she fell asleep within minutes. However, not before her own personal pain in the ass made one final remark.

_“We both know that’s a lie. I just hope for your sake, that you can admit it to yourself before you completely alienate the one person that actually understands you.”_

_Fu..k yo..u. Fu… Kim…_ she started to retort, but unconsciousness claimed her before she could finish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, now that the dust has settled, it seems that both Kim and Shego are taking a fuck you approach to the other. I can only imagine what that is going to add to their next encounter(s)... seriously, I’ve not written it yet so it is still very much in my imagination too, lol. 
> 
> Moving forward, the next update is going to be a minimum of four chapters, none of which existed until I wrote the conversation between Kim and her mom back in chapter 11. And even then, it was only supposed to be a single chapter! However, as always, I’m largely letting the characters dictate where we are headed and so new plot threads and scenes are organically developing and getting added to my plan as I go along. In fact, I might as well chuck the damn thing out the window, as when I come to write a lot of the important situations, both Kim and Shego are reacting differently to how I had initially envisioned. Indeed, even as I write these chapters that never even existed until I wrote chapter 11, another subplot has developed that is going to alter the immediate direction of the main plot. That being said, would I change how this story is unfolding and all the extra writing it is giving me? No, I absolutely would not. As every new subplot, chapter or alteration to the main plot is creating a much deeper and more interesting story, which I am still thoroughly enjoying. 
> 
> With all that in mind, please be patient while I actually finish writing the next set of chapters. As always, my thanks to everyone for reading this story and for all the Kudos and comments. I really do appreciate it. So, until next time, stay safe and I'll see you then.


	17. You and your friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone and welcome back to the largest single update to And You And I that we've had to date. Last time out, I promised you a minimum of four chapters this time, but have brought you six instead. I know, no need to look at me like that, I'm well aware that I'm a total douche for making you read an extra two chapters, lol :). Weighing in at over 30K words, this update is about the equivalent of forty percent of what I've already published and has taken the grand total to over 100K! Quite a feat for our little 'one-shot', if I do say so myself, although not surprising given my tendency for long works. 
> 
> Before we delve into this update in more detail, I need to say a massive thank you to each and every one of you. At the time of writing, this story has had just shy of 2000 hits, 42 subscribers, 23 bookmarks, 29 comments and an amazing 109 Kudos. So, from the bottom of my heart thank you all so much. I could never have imagined such a positive response to this story when I started writing it.
> 
> As I said last time out, nothing in this update existed in my plan until I wrote the scene where Kim phones her mom back in chapter 11 and even that had not initially been planned for inclusion. However, that only accounts for one of our six chapters. So, where did the other five come from I hear you ask? Well, this is perhaps the biggest instance yet of my brain coming up with an idea or two and then taking them for a very long walk. Having decided that I wanted to show what happened when Kim went to her mom's, I thought I should probably include a chapter showing what Shego got up to that day too. And that should have been it; two chapters. However, when I sat down to write Kim's chapter, ideas started to form in my head as I wrote and so things went in a different direction than I initially planned, resulting in a need to give Kim two chapters instead of one, for a total of three. Except the exact same thing happened when I went to write Shego's chapter. In the end, I kept developing ideas to the point that we now have three chapters focusing on each of our lovely ladies interesting Saturdays. What does all this mean for the story as a whole? I'll discuss that at the end of the update. 
> 
> Moving on to this chapter, in particular, had the working title It'll be a good day (a song from Yes' album The Ladder), back when it was only supposed to be one chapter. I then changed this to It'll be a good day part one and gave it the subtitle, You and your friend. However, once two chapters became three, I dropped the main title and simply used the subtitles. So, this chapter is called You and your friend, taken from the final Dire Straits album: On Every Street. Once you read it, the title will be fairly self-explanatory. 
> 
> Anyway, that's more than enough from me right now. Especially given that you've got six chapters to be reading, lol. Thank you all once again for your support, I hope you enjoy this update and I'll see you for an important note at the start of chapter 18. Until then, enjoy chapter 17: You and your friend.

Kim had awoken on Saturday morning to the incessant beeping of her alarm clock, a headache and a sharp pain in her right-hand side; it had been 6:00 am. The former she grudgingly acquiesced to, while the latter two were promptly told to fuck off; after a trip to the bathroom for a singular codeine. Even though it was Saturday and one of her ribs was broken, she still dragged herself out for her morning run. After deciding on the life of a full-time hero, she’d committed herself to a strict exercise regime in order to keep herself in peak condition. It included both a run and workout before breakfast and was only deviated from if she had been particularly banged up or had been out on a mission all night. Needless to say, minor hangovers and pain that had dulled somewhat from a single painkiller fell into neither category. Besides, she’d felt a strong need to put last night behind her and so returning to her norm seemed like the best way of doing that.

There had been a light drizzle outside, with a thick bank of dark clouds moving in ominously; there would be a thunderstorm later, of that she had been in little doubt. After a much-needed shower, breakfast had been served at eight-thirty and consisted of cereal, fresh fruit salad, a bowl of yoghurt and a craving for toaster tarts that she did not have. Yeah, sometimes she looked after herself too well. Regardless, it had been a surprisingly quiet morning. All thoughts of Shego and last night seemingly having been pushed out of her mind. Like they had been locked away inside a box, which had a dragon; that oddly resembled Mr Barkin, coiled around it. In fact, anytime her brain came close to trying to think about it, she heard the Barkin-dragon bark, _“don’t even think about it, Possible.”_

It was now just going on nine-am and Kim stood in front of her balcony doors, staring out at the picturesque mountains and their ominous backdrop of black clouds; cell phone in hand. While she had to go over to her parents later in the afternoon and stay for dinner; plus two hours afterwards, that was only half her day. Before then, she needed to deal with the damage Drakken’s death-ray had caused to her hair and when out on her run that morning, she’d had a brilliant idea. It would require cashing in some favours, but would hopefully kill three birds with one stone. She scrolled through her contacts and hit dial when she found the right one.

“Hello,” a man with a thick Spanish accent answered.

“Hi, Raul, it’s Kim,” she replied.

“Kim?” the man on the other end asked quizzically, like he was searching his brain in an effort to place the voice and name.

“Kim Possible.”

“Ah, Miss Possible,” Raul replied, his tone suddenly becoming bright and animated. “I cannot thank you enough for that time you rescued my models from the clutches of that nasty blue-skinned man. Urgh, he was a fashion disaster. The very idea of my beautiful ladies trapped in his company is still too much to bear.”

She remembered the incident well. Drakken had kidnapped a series of hair models and planned to use them in a rigged contest in another effort to shift his supply of brainwashing shampoo. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t get both Alexandrea and her hair out in one piece,” she replied. The woman in question had got her hair stuck in a door that had sealed behind her and Kim had been forced to slice it off using her laser lipstick.

“No, no, that was not your fault,” Raul said swiftly. “Besides, you were the perfect stand-in.”

She could recall that part too. With the model now lacking enough hair for the stylist’s design, Kim had volunteered herself as a last-minute replacement and won him first prize in the flaming locks category. “It was nothing, really,” she said, knowing full well what the response would be.

As expected, Raul did not disappoint, “no, no, no, you were the star of the show. I cannot thank you enough. If there is ever **anything** I can do for you, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Well,” Kim began, turning on her old innocent and sweet charm, “I know it’s short notice, but would you be able to squeeze me and a friend in this afternoon?”

“No, no, this I cannot do,” Raul quickly replied, as though she’d asked him for the earth, “it’s not possible.”

“Please, Raul,” she said. While he could not see her, the infamous puppy-dog-pout formed on her face to match her tone. “I had half an inch of my hair sliced off by that nasty blue-skinned man yesterday.”

Just like that, with the mention of having her hair attacked by Drakken’s death-ray, the man’s attitude quickly shifted, “oh, you poor senorita! Don’t you worry about a thing. Raul will make you look beautiful again.” In the background she heard him flick through what she presumed was a page in his diary. “You come see me at twelve o’clock and bring your lovely lady friend; you know the one I mean.”

“Spankin’! Raul,” the phrase left her lips before she had the chance to stop it. It was when she did normal things like this (at least normal for her teenage self), that she found herself slipping back into being old Kim. A sign that, while in Middleton at least, her old self was not entirely dead yet. “See you then.”

She hung up. _Ok, one apology present secured._ She then scrolled through her contacts list again. _Please pick up,_ she thought as she hit dial on finding Monique’s name. The phone rang and rang and rang. _Dammit, why is it that the one time I make the effort, she doesn’t answer._

She was just about to hang up when she heard a rather groggy voice reply, “hello?” A noise that sounded suspiciously like a head hitting a pillow followed.

“Hey, Monique,” Kim replied brightly, her tone full of energy and showing no signs that she had woken up hungover.

“…urgh…” came the reply after a few moments, “Kim, it’s… what the hell time is it?”

“Nine o’clock.”

“URGH! …dead right now… call back when alive…”

Kim had to cover her mouth to stifle a laugh. Like herself, Monique it seemed had been drinking last night, only it was clear that she was both still asleep and hungover. “Ok… but if I do that, you’ll miss the appointment you have with Raul…”

“Raul…? The hair stylist…? Not…possible…fully…booked…until…”

“Anything’s possible for a Possible,” Kim replied with a smile her friend would not see.

“Huh…?”

“I got us both an appointment at twelve o’clock.”

“Wait…” Kim could almost hear the sound on her best girl sitting bolt upright, before she squealed, “WHAT!”

She laughed, “you heard. You, me and a sexy Spanish hairstylist at twelve o’clock.” An image of the man in question floated through her mind, accompanied by the thought, _he’s **hot** , _but it felt somewhat forced.

“No way!”

“Yes way.”

“Oh my god! I’ve been phoning at least once every week to try and get a cancellation appointment before I go back to college but got bupkis. How on earth did you…”

“Anything is possible for a Possible,” Kim reiterated. “It also helps if you did a double favour for him. So, pick you up at eleven? You sound like you could use some serious coffee beforehand.”

“Yes!” Monique squealed before her voice turned to one of despair and she cried out, “NOOOOOO! I start work at eleven! And there’s no way I’ll be able to get out of it! DAMMIT…”

Kim just laughed as she listened to her best girl ramble on in anguish at how unfair the whole situation was. When the girl finally ran out of breath, she quickly interjected, “don’t worry, leave everything to me.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll get you out of work. Just be ready for eleven and I’ll pick you up.”

“Kim, I’m not sure that’s…” Monique began to say, but she swiftly cut her off.

“Trust me, don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of your work problem, you take care of your hungover problem, ‘k.”

“’K,” Monique replied, sounding slightly groggy again. “See you at eleven.”

“See you then,” Kim said and hung up.

 _Ok, two down, one to go._ She felt a slight thrill of excitement as she found the last contact on her list of three and hit call. She’d already anticipated having to call in this favour. For it would have only been by sheer dumb luck that Monique would have had the day off.

“Hello,” a male voice answered.

“Hello, Martin,” Kim replied in her professional voice, “it’s Kim Possible.”

“Why, hello, Miss Possible. How can I help you today?” Martin Smarty replied warmly. “I never did get the chance to properly thank you for saving my companies from that pricing virus. Can you imagine, the latest lines at Club Banana selling for Smarty Mart prices?”

She could. It was one of the rare occasions in which she had been in two minds when it came to foiling a villain’s plan, in this instance one of Frugal Lucre’s. However, her reputation as a hero had been worth more to her than a Club Banana shopping spree at Smarty Mart prices. “Well, I do have a favour to ask, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble?”

“You name it, Kim, and if Martin Smarty can do it, consider it done.”

“Well,” she began, making sure she did not sound pushy, “I really need to borrow my friend Monique today, but she’s due to start a shift at Club Banana here in Middleton at elven-am. Would it be possible for you…”

“Say no more, Kim. I’ll have someone phone our Middleton branch to take her off the rota,” Smarty replied in a tone that suggested he either found it a great honour to be helping her, or he considered losing an employee for the afternoon an absolute bargain in exchange for clearing the favour credit he owed her… probably the latter.

“Please and thank you, Martin.”

“Not a problem, Kim. Have a good day.”

“You too,” Kim said and the line went dead.

She smiled to herself, w _ell, that was easy._ However, she quickly let out a sigh. It had been a simpler time back then; when she had helped out Smarty and Raul. A time when she worked for nothing but racked up favours with people left right and centre. Money was all well and good, but, case and point with Raul and Martin Smarty, there were certain things that it couldn’t buy. While she still had a buck-load of favours owed to her, that well would one day run dry. Perhaps that would finally be the day that old Kim truly died. She cast the thought aside. _No, today’s going to be a good day… I need it to be a good day._ Pocketing her phone, she cast an eye around the apartment. While it looked perfectly neat, because she’d barely been home in the past few weeks, a thin layer of dust had started to gather. _I’ve got some time to kill before I have to pick up Monique, so I should probably clean._ Walking over to the CD rack, she withdrew a copy of Ash’s Meltdown album. Like many late teenagers, she’d ditched bands like the Oh Boyz not long after graduation and started to dip her toe into alternative rock. For a moment, Kim’s eyes were captivated by the tribal phoenix against a backdrop of flames that adorned the cover. The spell was broken as she opened the case, removed the disc and inserted it into a very stylish and stylishly expensive Bang and Olufsen Overture CD player. She hit play and felt the heavy opening bass notes resonate within her as she watched the glass doors slide shut. Like a lot of the stuff she’d filled the apartment with, she loved that CD player. Cracking her knuckles, she wandered off towards the kitchen to fetch some cleaning supplies. _Time to get to work._

##

Eleven am rolled around as Kim parked the Sloth 3.0 outside Monique’s parents’ house. The light drizzle that had existed when she had been out on her run had intensified to the point that it was now proper rainfall. Yet the main bank of dark clouds was still many hours away. Electing not to get wet by going to the door, she simply honked the horn and waited. A few moments later, her best girl wandered out in a raincoat and carrying an umbrella. It seemed Monique had every intention of trying to protect the masterpiece Raul would soon sculpt her hair into. As she drew closer, Kim let out a light chuckle. _Really, Monique, sunglasses in this weather?_ The girl opened the passenger door and climbed in.

“Morning,” Kim greeted in a chirpy tone as she gave her best girl a broad grin. “So, are the sunglasses because your eyes are that bloodshot or because your head is still pounding?”

“Both,” Monique groaned and she briefly lowered the glasses so Kim could see her eyes. “And before you ask, yes, I’m still hungover.”

“Yowch, what time did you get home last night?”

“Three… maybe four… we ended up at a house party that just did not want to end. I don’t even recall leaving... However, if I’d known you were home, I would have invited you.”

Kim elected not to say thanks but no thanks. Like nightclubs, house parties were not for her. Too many people crammed into too little space with alcohol and cheap snacks sloshing everywhere. Not to mention the inevitable house trashing, piles of vomit and people slouched in corners; unconscious due to an excess of alcohol… or worse. Instead, she elected to gloss over the subject of her evening with a simple, “I didn’t get back from my mission until late last night. I was pretty tired and so went straight to bed.”

Kim pulled out from the curb and set off in the direction of the Middleton mall.

“Have you at least called your mom to let her know you’re still alive?” Monique then asked. “She was going spare last weekend when you didn’t get in touch with her… she was really worried, Kim.”

“I know. Wade got in touch with me yesterday to tell me that I’d missed dinner last Saturday.”

A look of mild horror then spread across her best girl’s face, “you mean you completely forgot about her for a full week?”

She cringed, “sort of. To be fair, I only got the invite second hand and then with everything that happened with Ron last Friday… I just needed to get away and then I was super busy.”

“Geez, Girl, that’s not ok. You shouldn’t have needed reminding to call your mom, regardless of whether you’d missed dinner with your family or not,” Monique admonished. “What is the matter with you?”

Kim’s happy mood dulled somewhat on listening to the chastisement. _We’re not even at the mall yet and already I’m being berated._ “Can we not go there, Mo, please? I’ll be getting it from my mom later this afternoon anyway.”

“Fine,” Monique huffed, “but, I’ve got no sympathy for you, Girl, nada. Given what you do for a living, you should be calling your mom once a week, **minimum**.”

While the remark had been somewhat scathing, in a desire to avoid an argument, Kim chose to just accept it. Granted, there was a degree of truth to what her friend had said. Maybe _I do need to call mom more._ There was little more said between the pair as she drove them to the mall. However, she suspected this had more to do with her friend’s state of hungoverness than her own desire to skip the lecture regarding her family obligations.

Reaching the parking lot, Kim had to do a full circuit before she found a space near the entrance. However, she was not the only one. From the opposite direction, the driver of a silver BMW had noticed the exact same spot. Like a Mexican standoff, the two cars paused for a moment before darting forward. A smile formed on her lips, _oh no you don’t,_ as she increased speed. In a flash, she caught the handbrake and threw the Sloth into a skid; feeling a short burst of adrenaline.

“AHHH!” Monique yelled from beside her as she slid the car across the path of the oncoming BMW and parallel to the parking bay.

The other driver blasted his horn at her as she reversed the car back, but it would do him no good; the space was hers and he had been condemned to another circuit of the lot. “Woo!” she exclaimed as she cut the engine, “that was fun!” She glanced over at her friend, who’s face now had a green tinge to it.

“Maybe for you,” Monique replied as she opened her door and threw her head outside into the rain. There was no retching sound, but the girl did take several deep breaths before staggering out. _Lightweight._

“I think we need to get you a hangover cure, rather than a coffee,” Kim laughed as she herself climbed out. “Come on, the owner of the smoothie bar knows how to whip up something. It’ll taste horrible, but get the job done.” They quickly started walking towards the mall entrance.

“How would you know that? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you properly drunk when we’ve been out.”

“Ahh…” Kim began, her brain quickly trying to come up with a reason that would not reveal that she often went out alone and occasionally drank too much. “Ron and I went out one night and I sort of drank one or two too many. Anyway, I was really hungover next day but had to go out to meet someone here about a mission. And while I was stumbling through the food court, I literally bumped into the owner of the smoothie bar. He took pity on me and took me back to the bar and whipped me up his secret hangover cure.”

A mischievous smile formed on her friend’s face. “So, I guess the family motto is correct once again; anything’s possible for a Possible, including getting drunk. I guess I’ll just have to try harder next time I’ve got you out with me.”

Kim laughed, “good luck with that,” however, said to herself, _with both. I drank more than enough spirits last night to get the average person properly drunk, but while I got the buzz; I showed very few of the adverse side effects. So, I’m willing to bet my tolerance is a fair bit higher than yours._ As her mind reached for a memory from last night, she heard a sharp growl in her head accompanied by the words, _“don’t even think about it, Possible.”_ Only she did not have time to analyse why part of her brain had locked those memories inside a chest and assigned a Barkin-dragon to guard it.

Walking through the main doors to the mall, Kim unzipped her jacket and pulled the hood down; Monique doing the same but keeping her sunglasses on.

As they made a b-line for the food court, it seemed that her friend had not given up on the idea of getting her drunk. “Girl, I swear I’ll get you to loosen up, even if I have to hold the beer keg over your head myself.”

That was not something Kim relished. While she lived for challenges; she hated the taste of beer. “How about we focus on dealing with your hangover, then we’ll go and get our hair done?”

Monique seemed to contemplate her options for a moment, before grudgingly replying, “urgh, ok, you win. I’ll settle for that today. But don’t think I won’t remember for next time we’re out.”

She laughed, “Mo, there’s only one thing you’re going to remember from this morning and it’s not going to be that.”

They reached the smoothie bar and joined the end of the short queue. After a brief whispered conversation with the owner, which involved him giving Monique the once over, asking how much her head hurt and to see her eyes, they walked away with two smoothies; Kim’s a pleasant pink coloured strawberry one and Monique’s a putrid green made with unidentifiable ingredients.

“EWWW!” her best girl exclaimed after only a tiny sip, “this stuff’s revolting!”

Kim burst out laughing. “I told you so. And I’ll bet it makes you think twice about getting that drunk if you need to be sober and functional the next day.”

“I think I almost prefer the hangover,” Monique grumbled. “This stuff’d better work.”

“It will… trust me,” she replied, the memories of her own encounters with the beverage surfacing in her mind. She took a long drink of her own smoothie to rid herself of them.

They headed in the general direction of Raul’s hair and beauty salon as they drunk their respective smoothies. Every so often, they would stop and look at the display in a shop window and discuss this jacket or that dress. It was fun, but deep inside Kim could already feel an itch start to develop that she knew probably wouldn’t get scratched until tomorrow at the earliest. However, given that it had only begun to manifest itself, she found it easy enough to suppress. _No mission stuff or thrill-seeking today,_ she reminded herself. However, her eyes did linger slightly too long on the blank Kimmunicator screen on her wrist.

Beside her, Monique hastily switched sides with her and it was only when she glanced around, did she realise that they were about to pass Club Banana.

“Kim, do you mind if we pick up the pace? I really don’t want to be seen by any of the girls in the store,” Monique said quickly, her tone somewhat urgent and containing a pang of guilt. “They might try and lynch me.”

“Sure, Mo, no probs,” Kim replied as together they increased speed to a brisk walk until they were safely away from the storefront.

“Kim…” her best girl then ventured, “can I ask how you got me out of work?” her tone suddenly became fearful, “you did get me out of work, right?”

“Of course,” she replied, then said as nonchalantly as she would if talking about a walk she’d taken in the park, “I just called Martin Smarty and had him arrange to call someone to tell the store that you were to be taken off the rota today.”

Monique stopped dead, the expression she gave her a shifting cocktail of disbelief, shock and aww. Eventually, she managed to utter, “you’re joking right.”

Kim flashed her a smile.

“Tell me you are joking.”

“It was no big,” she replied. “He owed me a favour and so I cashed it in to get you out of work for the day.”

Monique’s expression had now settled on horror. “Kim, you can’t just phone up the owner of the entire Club Banana chain and ask him to take one staff member off-rota.”

“Why not?” she asked, genuinely not seeing a problem. “You’re my best girl and I owed you an apology for last Friday. So, why shouldn’t I treat you to a spankin’ new hairdo?” It was on using the slang term for the second time that morning, that Kim started to become aware of the distance that existed between the two of them. And she could not deny the slightly uncomfortable feeling of trying to slip back into the shoes of old Kim in order to bridge the gap.

Her friend looked like she had a lot more to say but simply replied, “I suppose I could use that great new hairdo,” and gave her a weak smile.

They finished their drinks in silence before stepping through the sliding glass doors of Raul’s hair and beauty salon.

“Beautiful ladies,” the owner exclaimed exuberantly as he strode forward to greet them. “I am so happy to see you again.”

Kim watched him look Monique up and down and give her a wide smile. “Oh, you blossoming rose, long have I desired to once again ply my trade on those sumptuous ebony locks of yours.” The girl blushed as he reached up and ran a hand through her hair. “Raul will sculpt you into a masterpiece today.”

The Spaniard then turned to Kim, “and you, you fiery vixen, what have they done to you?” The man’s tone was one of astonishment as he stepped forward and began to examine her lopsided hair. It wasn’t that bad, but Raul treated it as though this had been Dr Drakken’s most heinous of crimes. “Oh, you poor dear. Do not panic. Raul will fix everything. You will be beautiful again before you know it.”

The man escorted them both to chairs and they sat down. When he wandered away to finish up with another client, Kim glanced over at her friend. “I think he likes you,” she said with a light chuckle.

“I know,” Monique replied and she blushed again. “It’s a shame he’s almost ten years older than me; my parents would totally flip. But he is sooo hot, don’t you think.”

She turned and gave the man a quick once over and heard the voice in the back of her head remind her that, _“you like boys,”_ before replying, “yeah, I suppose.” _Why do I sound so hollow?_

A swift reply came in the form of, _“he’s maybe just not your type.”_

_Yeah… I suppose you’re probably right…_

“…Kim…”

_“Of course I’m right, Possible. In fact, you know what you need to do…”_

“…Yo, Kim…”

_No?_

_“You need to go out and find yourself a boyfriend.”_

_…I’m not sure that’s such a…_

_“Possible, you’ve been on the sidelines far too long. You need to go out there and find yourself a nice boy to kiss.”_

“…Yo, earth to Kim Possible!”

Kim jumped when she felt a hand touch her arm. Her eyes quickly darted around before locking onto Monique’s. “Sorry,” she blurted out, not quite sure what else to say.

“You ok, Girl?” her friend asked. “You kinda just spaced out on me.”

“Sorry,” she repeated, “guess I just got lost in thought.”

Her best girl laughed, “thinking about Raul in his swimsuit?”

“Definitely not,” Kim replied with a slight laugh, “I don’t think he’s my type.” She then bit her lip as she remembered what the voice in the back of her head had just said. “Mo,” she ventured tentatively, “…do you know anywhere good where I could maybe meet a nice boy?”

Monique looked like her birthday and Christmas had come at once and she gave Kim the widest smile as she said, "Girl, I was beginning to think that you’d never ask.” Then, as though worried that she would retract the enquiry, her best girl asked, “what are you doing on Sunday night?”

“Nothing… at the moment. I’ll probably end up taking on a mission after having to spend tonight dealing with Mom and the Tweebs.”

Somehow her friend’s smile widened further as she said, “perfect. You can put that mission on hold ‘till Monday.”

“Umm, did you miss the part about having to endure the Tweebs all night? I’ll be lucky if they don’t drive me to jet out tonight.”

“Girl, if you so much as think about leaving town tonight or tomorrow, I will have Wade track you down and I will personally fly to wherever it is you’ve gone and drag your ass back here.”

“Ok…” Kim said in confusion. “Is there any particular reason why you’re going to chase me around the world?”

“Because I’m taking you out tomorrow night and we’re going to find you a boyfriend.”

The answer should have been obvious to Kim, yet she was still surprised by it and panicked slightly. “Wait, Mo! I didn’t say I wanted to go boyfriend hunting tomorrow night.”

“Too bad,” Monique snapped in a no-nonsense tone. “You’ve been out of the saddle too long and I’m not giving you the chance to back out, not now that you’ve finally shown interest in climbing back on. So, you’re coming out with me tomorrow night; no arguments.”

Kim sighed, _ok, definitely not what I had in mind._ Truth be told, the whole idea of going out to meet a boy actually scared her slightly; a feeling she was not used to. _I don’t do fear._ She took a deep breath. _Ok, I can do this, I can do anything. Besides, it’s only going out to ogle some boys… so not the drama._ “Ok, Mo, but I’ve got a few conditions first.”

Monique gave her a sideways look, “such as?”

“I want to go somewhere nice, with a relaxed atmosphere, not some crowded nightclub.”

“Ok… I think I can accommodate that, given that you’ll be there.”

Kim knew that by, _‘given that you’ll be there,’_ her friend was referring to the fact that she could get them in almost anywhere. “Also, just you and me. I don’t want any of the other girls or their boyfriend’s tagging along.”

“Not a problem. Just me and my best girl works just fine. Anything else?”

She bit her lip again before saying something she already knew would get a resounding no, however, she was determined not to back down, “I’m picking my own outfit. Everything from my socks to my makeup.”

As expected, “no way, nut-uh, no chance. No, offence, Kim, but somewhere along the lines, you’ve taken one too many knocks to the head and it’s screwed up your sense of style.”

“Mo, please,” Kim replied, her tone and expression perhaps betraying how much of an issue this had become for her. “I don’t want boys ogling and fawning over me because I’ve been dressed and dolled up to look like some supermodel. I want them to see the me I actually am.”

While Monique rolled her eyes, her tone told Kim that, on some level, she understood. “Ok, Girl, you get to dress yourself. On the condition that you at least wear something appropriate for the venue. If you show up at Heartbeats wearing your blue capris and green vest, they won’t let you in; even if your name is Kim Possible.”

She looked ponderous for a moment. _Heartbeats…? It’s a Jazz bar if I recall correctly. Did I rescue the house piano player from one of DNAmy’s escaped pets? Or was she from Heart-throbs or Drumbeats?_ It didn’t really matter. A jazz bar would be a much more relaxed setting to try and meet someone; not to mention the clientele would be much more tactful and respective of her privacy. _This actually sounds like it might be fun._ A smile formed on her lips. “Ok, deal.”

Her friend caught her eye and gave her a playful grin, “spankin’.”

They both laughed as the hairstylist wandered towards them. “Ok, Laddies, time to make you the envy of all the other girls and the singular desire of all the men.”

When prompted, Kim tilted her head back and felt Raul’s nimble fingers run through her hair. So, far the day was going perfectly, she just hoped her luck held out as it progressed. For she still had her afternoon grilling with her mom, not to mention the Tweebs to negotiate. _Which reminds me,_ she glanced over at her friend, “Mo, what exactly did you tell my mom when you spoke to her last Sunday…”


	18. Dancing with the devil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, people, listen up. This note is very important as it directly involves the content of this chapter and is not just me rambling, so please do read it. When we get to the end of the first scene in this chapter, I have inserted a scene break along with another author's note. I have done this because I need to explain something, but don't want to do it here in order to avoid spoilers. So, when you get to it, please don't skip over it, otherwise, you might not enjoy the second half of this chapter or the two Shego chapters that follow on from it. More details when we get there. 
> 
> Like the last chapter, this one too had a working title, in this case, Good day in hell from the Eagles On the border album. However, I again used the part 1, part 2 thing once it became two chapters, but abandoned it by the time it became three. So, the chapter title is simply: Dancing with the devil, a lyric from the Motorhead song, Ace of spades. The reason? Aside from the obvious reference to Shego's little devil's advocate, will soon become clear. Enjoy.

**Warning! If you have not already done so, please read my author's note before starting this chapter. Please and thank you.  
**

**##**

Shego had slept in that morning. After exerting all her energy in a continuous burst of plasma the previous night, she had been utterly exhausted. When her alarm clock had gone off at six am, she’d vaporized it with a single shot from her finger, rolled over and gone back to sleep. Needless to say, she’d need to replace it yet again. Eventually, at the back of eleven, she’d finally risen and staggered downstairs. While a pot of coffee had been brewing, she’d sourced copious amounts of sausages, bacon and eggs plus a full tin of baked beans, dumped the lot into a segregated frying pan and used her glow to cook it all in seconds. If anyone had known her on an intimate sort of level, this would have been akin to a flashing red warning light; telling people that she was not in a good mood. She had not even bothered to use a plate, rather sat the pan down atop a heat resistant mat on the breakfast bar and then consumed the lot; along with the full pot of coffee and half a carton of orange juice. Her appetite always ravenous the morning after such an explosion of her glow.

It was now almost half-one in the afternoon and Shego had holed herself up inside the basement. The single room spanned the entire area of the house and was probably safer from an atomic blast than most bomb shelters, even though it was just one level underground. The walls were thick, reinforced mad-science steel and durable enough to withstand even the longest and most fearsome blasts from her glow. Yes, in time she would probably be able to cut her way through, but it would take her days, possibly longer. There was also a ventilation system, made up of several small ducts, rather than a singular one through which pesky heroes could crawl. That was not to say that there was no escape route, should GJ somehow break in upstairs and trap her down here. That purpose was served by a single shaft, hidden by a sliding panel and secured on the inside with a large, old fashioned, un-hackable, manual bolt. No one was getting through that from the opposite side. Ok, so maybe the whole thing was overkill, but she was both a super-villain and sensible.

_“…you know…”_

BAM! Shego hit the Wavemaster, who’s surface was a woven mesh of the same steel as the walls, with a side-kick that sent it flying backwards.

_“…if you’d just…”_

_Fuck you!_ Springing into the air, she caught the punching bag on the rebound with a jumping-turning-kick.

_“…how about…”_

_Fuck Danni!_ Landing on one foot, Shego seamlessly transitioned into a spinning-turning kick and then a reverse-hook-kick.

_“…ok, so you’re mad, I get…”_

She closed to hand range and started pummelling the bag with an intense barrage of hand techniques that lasted two solid minutes.

_“…if you just take a moment to…”_

_AND FUCK KIMMIE!_ “ARGH!!” Shego yelled as she ignited her glow and blasted the Wavemaster across the room.

She stood there, enveloped in a bright green glow, hands wreathed in plasma, as she drew panted breaths in through gritted teeth. This was getting her nowhere. She’d been training for two hours solid, yet even in the shortest of breaks between techniques, her own personal pain in the ass had inserted itself; desperate to draw her attention to it and the events of the previous night. She could not recall the last time her own mind had been so set against her will. It was downright infuriating! Unfortunately, she was spent. Picking up a towel, Shego wiped the warm sweat from her face and headed for the stairs.

_“So, now that you’re all warmed up, ready for the main event?”_

_GO AWAY!_ Internally she threw a plasma ball, but as always, she hit nothing.

_“Here’s an idea, how about you actually sit down and listen to yourself for once?”_

_Hell no. I know my own mind. I just happen to be stuck with an annoying asshole that tries to derail my thoughts._ She made her way out of the basement and to the kitchen.

Her devil’s advocated laughed. _“You make it sound as if I’m some stranger from across the street.”_

_You might as well be as you sure as hell aren’t me. I know who I am, what I want and what I need. Whereas you…_

_“Tell you the things that you’re already thinking about, but don’t want to here. We’ve been over this, it’s my job.”_

Reaching into the refrigerator, Shego withdrew two bottles of water and proceeded to drain both. _Really, because I’ve got an alternate theory._

_“Oh, do tell. I always like poking holes in your theories.”_

_You were never this annoying until two years ago. Not until after my brain got scrambled by Electronique’s Reverse Polarizer._ A thin, contemptuous smile formed on Shego’s face. _You’re the result of my brain chemistry getting screwed up. A remnant of…_

 _“Miss Go?”_ the devil’s advocate said, stealing her thunder.

With more force than was necessary, Shego thrust her empty water bottles into the trash can and stomped towards the stairs. _Yes,_ she spat bitterly, enraged at having the moment stolen from her. _It explains your obsession with Kimmie perfectly._

 _“Hmmm,”_ the devil’s advocate said in an overly elongated manner, _“yep, I think I like that idea of yours.”_ An image of herself, wearing a short brown skirt and jacket with a teal turtleneck and that ridiculous headband formed inside her mind. And to Shego’s horror, it opened its mouth and said, _“yep, definitely like this idea of yours. Just call me Miss Go from now on.”_

“NO FUCKING WAY!” Shego yelled as she stormed inside her bedroom. She’d thought of the idea as a means to belittle the little bastard, only for it to weaponize it against her. The idea that any part of her was still Miss Go felt abhorrent.

 _“Well, that backfired spectacularly on you,”_ Miss Go said smugly. _“Got any other bright ideas? Or are you ready to sit down and have a heart to heart? I’m a really good listener, you know.”_

 _Fuck off!_ Going to her CD rack, she found the heaviest album she had here in her bedroom; Motörhead’s Ace of Spades, quickly inserted it into the CD player and threw the volume dial up to maximum. She then headed straight into the bathroom and turned on the shower as the thundering rhythm of guitar, bass and drums exploded from the speakers as the title track kicked in.

_“I can help you figure this all out.”_

Shego completely blanked her as she belted out at the top of her voice, “if you like to gamble, I tell you I’m your gal. You win some, lose some, all the same to me!”

 _“Well, that’s real mature,”_ Miss Go admonished.

“The pleasure is to play, makes no difference what you say!” She threw her head beneath the warm water and started to soak her long raven hair. “I don’t share your greed, the only card I need is the Ace of Spades. The Ace of Spades!” She’d sing the whole goddamn album if necessary.

_“You’ll have to deal with all of this sooner or later…”_

“Playing for the high one, dancing with the devil. Going with the flow, it’s all a game to me!” She picked up a shampoo bottle, emptied some into her hand and started furiously running it through her hair.

_“…would it be so bad to just…”_

“Seven or eleven, snake eyes watching you. Double up or quit, double stake or split, the Ace of Spades. The Ace of Spades!”

_“…look, if you’d just listen to your…”_

Shego finished rubbing the shampoo in and put her head back under the water. “You know I’m born to lose and gambling’s for fools. But that’s the way I like it, Baby. I don’t want to live forever.”

_“…you are being completely unreason..”_

“And don’t forget the joker!” She began to thrash her head to the furious noise of the guitar solo, which made it somewhat difficult to rinse her hair.

_“…will you just stop and…”_

“Pushing up the ante, I know you’ve gotta see me. Read ‘em and weep, the dead man’s hand again.” She quickly rubbed body lotion onto a sponge and started to wrathfully scrub her body; electing to forgo the excess time-sink of conditioner.

_“…dammit, Shego!...”_

“I see it in your eyes, take one look and **die**! The only thing you see, you know it’s going to be, the Ace of Spades. THE ACE OF SPADES!” She rinsed her body off as the final furious seconds of the track played out. _And that’s how you shower in just under three minutes._

 _“…I’m not going to go away, no matter what you do!”_ Miss go said firmly; hands on hips, as Shego turned off the water. _“So, get dried and sit your butt down somewhere so we can talk this out.”_

 _No way!_ Shego turned on her glow as she left the shower and chose to ignore a towel completely today. She ran her hands through her hair and within seconds her entire body was bone dry. _In fact, you’ve just been promoted on my most annoying people list._

Miss Go gave her a sideways look, _“seriously?”_

 _Yes! I’ve just had to class part of my own head as officially more annoying than **Dr Drakken!** So, well done, congratulations. _She stalked into her wardrobe and pulled on the first set of underwear, jeans and t-shirt that came to hand.

 _“Ok, now you're just being facetious,”_ Miss Go admonished in a tone reserved for difficult children.

 _Am I? You’re the one wearing that stupid headband, not me._ She pulled on her biker boots and a black and green leather jacket. Leaving Motörhead blaring, Shego stomped out of her bedroom and down the stairs.

 _“And where do you think you’re going, young Lady?”_ Miss Go said, like Shego were a child about to walk out of her classroom.

_I just told you, you’ve been promoted on the most annoying people list._

_“You are not seriously about to..”_

_Yeah, I am and it’s your fault. You drove me to it._ This was drastic even by her standards, but if it did the job, she would be content. Pocketing her purse and keys, she picked up her helmet and pulled it on.

_“Let’s be reasonable about this…”_

_No, you had your chance to be reasonable. So, now I’m going to do something to drown you out._ Shego opened the front door and stormed out, still not believing that she was about to do this… willingly spend her Saturday afternoon with Dr Drakken.

##

**Author's note (please read):**

Ok, so Shego is off to spend her Saturday with Dr Drakken. However, as will become apparent from the first line of the next scene, Drakken has some company. In particular, our golf obsessed friend, Duff Killigan. Now, as both Killigan and myself are Scottish, it was easy for me to write his dialogue as it is supposed to be in the show; in broad Scottish. However, the problem for all of you is that, unless you also come from Scotland, his dialogue might not be that easy to understand (trust me, people from the rest of the UK have trouble understanding broad Scottish). While I toyed with the idea of simply writing him using plain English, I just didn't feel right. So, to try and solve the problem, I am going to provide a small dictionary of all the terms he uses for your reference, just in case you are left wondering what the hell he is talking about. Hopefully, this will solve any issues that arise. However, if enough people have trouble with it and let me know, I'll go back and re-write his dialogue so that he talks in boring old English. So, here is a quick reference guide to Killigan's dialect, the terms appearing in the order that they are used and I hope it doesn't cause anyone too much trouble.

Ach: conveys irritation Hae: Have Tae: to Dae: do Daft: stupid Lass/Lassie: girl Auld: Old Ye/Yer: You/your Gabbin’: talking Feck: Fuck O’: of Whit: what Ma: my 

Cannae: cannot Ontae: onto Wee: small Beastie: animal Jist: just Aye: yes Fer: for Awa’: away Fae: from Deil: Devil O’er: over Havers: nonsense

Nowt: nothing Aboot: about Dinnae: don’t Laddie: boy Wis: Was Twa: two Wisna: wasn’t Caird: card Wi’: with Eejit: idiot A’ways: always Soonds: sounds 

Unca’d: uncalled Mare: more Hoo: how Hae’in: having ‘im: him Widnae: wouldn’t Sae: so Oot: out Ba’s: Balls Shi’d: should A’: all Gonnae; going to 

Disnae: doesn’t Faird: afraid Smashing: excellent (Spankin’) Gae: go Morin: tomorrow Ca’d: called Bes: best

##

“…Ach, no. Why’d it hae tae be green!” the voice was accompanied by an awkward shuffling sound, followed by a heavy slap of sweaty flesh on plastic.

 _What the hell?_ Shego thought as she made her way along the corridor that led from the hanger to the main chamber of the lair. Instinctively she ignited her hands and crept forward. _I’m sure I recognise that voice._

A sound akin to a laugh that Shego also thought she recognised then echoed towards her.

“Oh, you big meanie!” There was another shuffling sound that too was followed by a heavy slap.

_What on earth is going on in there? Was that…_

She heard the laugh again, only this time it was louder and had an evil tone to it.

“Oh, come on! That’s not even possible!” the unmistakable voice of Dr Drakken exclaimed.

Shego allowed her glow to die as the doors to the lair’s main chamber opened and she was greeted by the sight of… “what the hell!” she exclaimed. On the floor in the centre of the room was Drakken, DNAmy and Duff Killigan, their collective limbs entangled in a twisted mass atop a plastic mat.

“KIM POSS…” Drakken exclaimed, however, stopped mid-sentence when he finally managed to tilt his head to look at her; his right foot struggling to reach a red circle. “Oh, it’s just you, Shego.” The colour then drained from his blue face. “wait… SHEGO!” he said in alarm, “…what are you doing here?”

“Playing the role of Kimmie, apparently,” she said then burst out laughing at the situation. Her boss, Dr Drakken, super-villain extraordinaire, along with two others from Princess’ rogue's gallery were playing Twister! _You couldn’t write this sort of thing if you tried!_

“Now, there’s an idea. Why don’t we invite that nice young Kim Possible to be our fourth player today,” DNAmy said, a thoughtful expression covering her face. “I bet she’d be really good at this game.”

Dr Drakken looked mortified at the suggestion. “What! Kim Possible! I’m not inviting my nemesis to game day!” His tone then shifted to a grumble, “besides, it’s practically cheating to have such a nimble body when playing Twister.”

“Ach, why’d we need tae dae a daft thing like that?” Killigan chipped in. “The young lass here will be a perfect stand-in for auld DeMenz.”

Still so busy laughing at the ridiculous sight before her, Shego did not register what the Scotsman had just said. Instead, when she finally managed to control herself, she addressed Drakken, “seriously? This is what you do with your weekend? Invite some of your villain buddies around to play Twister?”

“Well, it’s not just twister. We’ve got Monopoly, Clue, Jenga and World Domination over there.” He raised a hand from the mat and pointed to a stack of other board games on the table. “There’s even a deck of cards.”

A squeak, that sounded oddly like an admonishing, “ut-uh,” drew Shego’s attention to a chair positioned just beside the edge of the mat. Leaning against its back was the Twister wheel and beside it, shaking its pink head was…

“Is that the buffoon’s naked-mole-rat?” she exclaimed and watched as the creature hopped down from its perch, bounded over to Dr Drakken, jumped up to his outstretched hand and bit it.

“YEOW!” Drakken yelled as he tried to shake the naked-mole-rat off.

Shego burst out laughing again.

“I told you, he’s an awful stickler for the rules is little Ru-Ru,” DNAmy said.

“Ok, fine, I’ll put it back,” Drakken said irritably and put his hand back on the mat. The naked-mole-rat released its grip.

Shego looked between the pink rodent and DNAmy. “So that’s not Stoppable’s naked-mole-rat?”

“Oh my, no,” the woman replied. “This is Ru-Ru, my naked-mole-shark.”

Ru-Ru, who had hopped back onto his perch, turned around to show her the small fin on his back and then opened his mouth to show off a set of razor-sharp teeth. He then let out an evil little laugh.

 _Ah, another one of Amy’s crackpot Cuddle Buddies._ “But you used the DNA from Stoppable’s naked-mole-rat to create him, right?”

“Why yes, of course. That little scamp was far too intelligent for me not to,” DNAmy replied. She then glanced up at her creation, “but he’s got quite the naughty streak in him, don’t you Ru-Ru.”

The naked-mole-shark nodded and laughed evilly again.

“That must have come from his mother’s side,” the woman finished airily. “You just never know how the little cuties are going to turn out when you pull that lever.”

“Enough of yer gabbin’ woman. Are we no playing the game?” Killigan then said irately.

Ru-Ru promptly spun the spinner and let out an evil, “heh, heh, heh,” when it came up left foot blue.

“For feck sake!” Killigan exclaimed. “I’m tellin’ you, that naked-mole-shark o’ yours is cheatin’, Amy.”

The man shifted his leg and Shego had to quickly avert her gaze as she caught sight of exactly what a true Scotsman keeps under his kilt.

“Argh! Duff, that’s my hand!” Drakken exclaimed.”

“Whit’s yer stupid hand doing there, Drew? That’s where ma foot’s goin’.”

“You can’t just knock someone’s hand off a spot and take it as your own! That’s cheating!”

“Indeed, it is not! If you cannae hold ontae yer spots, that’s no ma problem!”

Shego watched the two villains’ hand and foot tussle over the spot, noting that the naked-mole-shark was quite content to allow the squabble to play out for its own entertainment. When Killigan eventually won, Ru-Ru hopped down off his perch to finally deliver his ruling.

“AH YA WEE BEASTIE!” Killigan roared when the naked-mole-shark sank its razor-sharp teeth into his foot. Apparently, it was cheating to steal someone else’s spot.

“I told you, he’s a stickler for the rules,” DNAmy reiterated with a light chuckle.

“Thank you,” Drakken declared victoriously as he reclaimed his spot.

Killigan, on the other hand, was forced to twist his foot onto the next available one. “This is jist no golf!”

With one final laugh, Shego turned to leave. _Yeah, totally not getting involved in this weirdness._

“Are ye no staying to play, Lassie?” the Scotsman then said, causing her to spin back around.

Shego’s eyes surveyed the scene before her once more. “Oh, no. No, no, no. I am not getting involved in… whatever **this** is.”

Drakken then looked up at her, “oh come on, Shego. We’re short a player since DeMenz is in jail.”

“You mean Dementor?”

“His real name is DeMenz.” Drakken’s tone then turned sarcastic, “can you imagine, a villain with a normal name…” he looked her up and down, “…Sheridan…? Sheena…? Lizzie…?”

Shego burst out laughing, “not even close.” _Serves him right for trying to use sarcasm against me._ “And so not happening, Dr D. See you on Monday.”

Drakken then fixed her with what she could only assume was his best attempt at replicating Kimmie’s infamous puppy-dog-pout, only with his blue features and scar, it looked more grotesque than cute. “Please, Shego. Most of these games are better with four players and it really is a lot of fun.”

“It really is,” DNAmy added. “I was sceptical too when Drewbie first proposed the idea. But it’s turned out to be one of the highlights of my social calendar. In fact, it’s one of the reasons I now have a social calendar.”

“Aye, it’s good fer a laugh. Sometimes ye need a bit o’ time awa’ fae the green if ye catch ma drift,” Killigan chipped in.

“Still not happening,” Shego reaffirmed and quickly turned on her heal.

However, before she even made it to the door, the image of Miss Go had filled her mind. _“Well, look who came sulking back,”_ she said with a sly smile. _“Quite the pickle you’ve got yourself into here.”_

 _How so?_ Shego spat internally.

_“Well, since I wholeheartedly approve of you joining in, you’ll be doing what I want you to do if you stay. And if you leave, you’ll be stuck having to deal with me and the stack of problems we need to discuss. Your lack of socialising being chief amongst them.”_

Shego quickly ran this through her head as Miss Go added her drinking habits and Kimmie to the list and came to the same conclusion, _shit! What the hell do I do now?_

 _“I think this is what they call check-mate,”_ Miss Go said with a light chuckle. _“Now, go have fun with your new friends and I’ll see you when you get home.”_

 _I hate you,_ Shego spat bitterly, but knew she was beaten. If it was a choice between Drakken and his weird friendship circle or dealing with her own internal problems, she’d take Drakken; that choice had already been made when she hopped on the Blackbird and zoomed from home to the lair. She’d just never imagined to find **this** waiting for her. _Urgh, why couldn’t he just be building another death-ray?_

With a sigh of defeat, Shego turned around, but not before Miss Go made one final parting remark, _“good, Girl. Now, have fun.”_

The three faces before her all brightened as she pinched the bridge of her nose and walked back towards them. Ru-Ru rubbed his little paws and sniggered at the prospect of fresh meat to chomp down on. This was going to be one long afternoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I hope Killigan's dialogue didn't give you too much trouble. As you will all have guessed he's going to appear in the next two Shego chapters, so there are more terms in his dictionary than he used in this chapter. Anyway, I'll see you in a moment as we go back and see how Kimmie is getting on.


	19. Mother's going to keep baby healthy and clean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so chapter three of six and I bet you're all glad to be rid of the insanity that is Drakken's game day and a certain irate Scotsman. 
> 
> I've not got too much to say about this chapter other than the title, Mother's going to keep baby healthy and clean is taken from the lyrics to Mother, a song from Pink Floyd's The Wall. When I listened to the album the other week, this song came on and I found the last verse to be particularly relevant to Kim and how she feels her mother has become a bit over-protective. Needless to say, I just had to use part of the songs lyrics for this particular chapter. FYI, I really hope I get the chance to use another line from this song: Mother's going to check out all your girlfriends for you, at a later date, lol. 
> 
> Anyway, enough from me. Enjoy.

It was late afternoon when Kim finally parked the Sloth inside her parents’ garage. She’d messaged her mom earlier in the day to tell her that she’d be late and half expected to be chewed out over it. However, because she had been using the time to do something ‘normal’, her mom had simply told her to have fun and come over when she was done. _I bet she makes me stay longer after dinner to make up for it though,_ Kim thought as she climbed out of her car, _given her current disposition towards me._

She entered the house, an eerily accurate replica of the original and called out, “hey, Mom, it’s me.”

“I’m in the lounge, Kimmie,” her mom replied.

Kim headed in the direction of her mom’s voice, but her foot froze mid-step when her ears pricked up to the sound of something mechanical descending from the ceiling. Her eyes shot in the direction from which it had come and caught sight of what looked like an auto-turret. _Oh, crap!_ Instinctively she dived to the side as the weapon fired, missing her by mere millimetres. “TWEEBS!” she yelled at the top of her voice as she had to continually dodge repeated blasts.

In the living room door, she caught sight of Jim and Tim’s heads appearing.

“Cool,” Jim said enthusiastically, “it works!”

“No, it doesn’t,” Tim countered, “it hasn’t hit her once!”

“TWEEBS!” Kim yelled again as she scanned the hallway for options. “Turn that thing off!”

She caught sight of Jim pulling out his cell phone. “True, but she is providing excellent data for us to analyse.”

Tim nodded in agreement. “However, that targeting system is going to take a lot of work if we want it to be able to disintegrate someone with her reflexes in one shot.”

“TWEEBS!” Seeing that her brothers had no intention of disabling their latest creation, she had no choice but to do it her way. Darting towards the wall nearest the auto-turret, she ran up and along it in an arc and sprang towards it; the gun unable to turn and fire fast enough. Catching it mid-flight, she pulled down hard and wrenched it from the ceiling. It died in her hands as she tossed it on the floor at the twins’ feet. “Analyse that!”

“AWW,” they said in unison, “Mom, Kim ruined our auto-turret!”

“I think your sister is entitled to come into the house without being shot at by your defence system,” her mom then said as she appeared behind them.

“But, Mom…” they both said before yelping as her mother grabbed them both by the ear.

“Now, both of you get rid of that silly little turret of yours, clean up the mess it’s made of my walls and floor and then, as an apology to your sister, go to the garage and make some **free** improvements to her car.”

“But…but…” the Tweebs stammered, but they quickly stopped when their mother gave them a stern look.

“Go, now,” the woman commanded and released Jim and Tim’s ears.

The twins scooped up their now destroyed auto-turret and scampered up the stairs, leaving Kim alone with her mom.

“Kimmie,” her mom then greeted warmly as she closed in for a hug.

“Hi, Mom,” she replied as they embraced; forcing herself to stifle a wince from her ribs.

When they separated, her mother looked her up and down. “I like what you’ve done with your hair.”

“Thanks. I just got it done at Raul’s.” She turned around so her mom could see the back. After having lost more than an inch to Drakken’s death-ray and then having to remove another half-inch worth of singed ends, she’d gone all-in and allowed the stylist to cut it down to just below shoulder-length, thin it out and give it a choppy look. However, she had resisted his offer to put some different shades of red, orange, yellow and even blonde, through it, so that she would look like a lit match; maybe next time.

“It really suits you. Any reason you decided to get it done?”

The questioned sounded fairly innocent and so Kim had no qualms about telling a white lie, “I owed Monique an apology after last weekend and I knew she’d been dying to have Raul style her hair before she goes back to college. So, I called in a favour and treated her to an appointment.”

The expression on her mom’s face immediately told her that she’d just been busted. “Really? Are you sure it wasn’t because some super-villain tried to kill you with some obscene death-ray, but only managed to disintegrate some of your hair because his sidekick chose to ruin his plan at the last second?”

“Errr…” Kim stammered under the intensity of the glare she received.

Her mom then folded her arms, “Kimberly?”

She held up her thumb and forefinger as she cringed, “maybe just a little.” _Oh, crap! How much of my fight with Shego got broadcast on every TV station around the globe?_

Then as though reading her mind, her mom answered, “a lot of it. And the good people at HeroTV had already started a three-hour commentary, dissection and analysis of it by the time I came home from work. Your brothers were kind enough to rewind it so I could watch from the start.”

 _I bet they were,_ Kim gulped, _uh oh! I am so dead!_

“Now, young lady, do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?”

“What’s the easy way?” Kim asked, already knowing what her mom was referring to.

“You come quietly up to your old bedroom and let me examine you; head to toe.”

 _Ok, so not going to happen._ “And the hard way?”

Her mom reached into her pocket and pulled out a small remote control. She gave Kim a small smile as she pressed a button. “I lock down the house…”

A thundering sound echoed all around them and she had a bad feeling it had nothing to do with the storm clouds that were almost overhead. Turning her head, her olive-green eyes widened at the sight of the reinforced steel that now covered the windows. _Aww, come on! More of the Tweebs handy work?_

Sure enough, “…and then use one of the other defence systems your brothers have installed…”

From behind her, Kim heard the sound of a wall panel sliding open. She turned just in time to see a large cannon-like device shoot a large blob of goo straight at her at lightning speed; she had no time to dodge. It hit her square in the chest and quickly enveloped her torso. “What on earth?” she exclaimed.

“…to restrain you and then cart you upstairs anyway.”

Her mom chuckled to herself as Kim lost her balance and fell to the floor; the goo cushioning her landing. No matter how hard she tried, she could not free her arms from the confines of the unidentifiable stuff. “TWEEBS!” she yelled, serving only to cause her mom to laugh more.

“Your brothers really are quite the little geniuses,” the woman commented airily. “For your sake, I hope they don’t ever decide to try their hands at super-villainy. As you might just have met your match. Now, shall we go upstairs?”

As though on cue, there was a scampering noise from upstairs, followed by, “COOL! IT WORKS!”

Kim tried to raise her head to glare at her brothers but could not tilt it far enough back. Instead, she opened her mouth to yell at them again but was beaten to it.

“Boys,” her mom said firmly, “don’t you have some cleaning to be doing?”

“Sorry, Mom, but that sounds like the auto-turrets about to explode,” they both yelled and as quickly as they had come, they were gone again.

“Now, then, Kimmie, you were just about to agree to come quietly.”

Kim groaned, _there’s no way I’m getting out of this stuff. Damn those Tweebs! And damn mom for using their mad inventions against me! In fact, double damn them for giving her access to them in the first place._ “Ok, fine, you win. Just get this stuff off of me!”

“Only if you promise to be a good girl and do what the doctor tells you,” her mom replied in the sweet tone she’d used on her when taking her to the paediatrician as a child. 

“Alright, fine,” Kim huffed in resignation, “just get this stuff off of me.”

She heard a beep and the goo suddenly slithered off of her and she watched it quickly squelch all the way along the floor, up the wall and back into the barrel of the cannon. “What on earth is that stuff?” she asked as she picked herself up.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” her mom replied as she retracted the house’s blast shutters. “Your brothers cooked it up for a science project at the end of last term and then installed it as part of their security system. As you saw, it comes in quite handy.”

“Not really,” Kim grumbled sourly.

“You’ll change your tune once your brothers install one of those cannons on the Sloth.”

An image of her firing a glob of the unidentifiable stuff at a running Drakken filled her mind and she quickly caught herself wondering if her brothers could shrink the tech down to something she could carry on her belt. _Dammit. As much as they annoy me, the Tweebs are just as tech-savvy when it comes to gadgets as Wade… maybe even more so. And they still barter in favours. Should I start trading the tech I snag from villains to them instead?_ It was something to ponder at a later date as her mom had already walked to the foot of the stairs and indicated for her to follow. Dragging her feet, she did as she was bid until she found herself climbing the familiar wooden steps up to her old attic bedroom.

Her mom followed her up and then closed the hatch cover over so as to give them some privacy. On the bed, Kim’s eyes immediately caught sight of the waiting array of medical supplies. It seemed her mom was already well prepared this time.

“Ok, Kim, you know the drill, strip.”

She rolled her eyes long-sufferingly, her gaze lingering on the windows. _I wonder if I could break through them before Mom has the chance to drop those damn blast shutters again?_

“Kim,” her mom said sternly and she knew her mind had just been read again, “the hallway is not the only room in the house with some of your brothers' intruder restraining security devices.”

Sighing, she unzipped her jacket, pulled it off, then began unbuttoning her shirt. She tossed it on the bed, “happy?” The look she received told her that it was not good enough. She had to sit down on the edge of the bed to unlace her trainers, as bending over would tell her mom that her ribs were still rather tender; especially after her altercation with the stupid auto-turret. She slipped off her jeans and was left covered only by her underwear, the strapping around her ribs and the other dressings she’d put on after coming out of the shower that morning. Kim looked up to see her mom reading a notepad. “What’s that?” she asked but had a bad feeling she already knew.

“My notes from last night’s broadcast,” her mom replied as she flicked through several more pages.

_How many injuries does she think I sustained yesterday?_

“When was the last time you let a doctor look at you?”

The question caught Kim off-guard and she did not have a lie prepared for it, “umm…”

She received another pointed look.

Unfortunately, the only thing that came to mind was the truth, “last time you checked me over.”

“Kimberly Ann Possible,” her mom exclaimed in alarm, “that was months ago; when you hurt your back.”

“Was it?” she asked innocently, knowing full well it had been.

Her mom raised a hand to her forehead, shook her head and sighed. “Kimmie, we agreed after you suffered those horrific burns to your left shoulder blade…”

She felt a burning sensation spread over the three claw marks as they were invoked.

“…that you would get checked over whenever you came home or if you had suffered any sort of nasty injury. I even offered to do it myself. The only reason I didn’t insist was because I thought you had the sense to follow good medical advice.”

Her mom had tactfully left out the part about them not being on good speaking terms when the claw incident occurred. Although, it had been the start of that particular bridge being repaired. Regardless, it had not been anger she heard in her mother’s tone, rather disappointment and that sounded far worse. She hadn’t meant to ignore her advice, just never got around to following it. Given that she never knew when she would be home, she couldn’t exactly plan ahead to arrange a check-up with a doctor and when she finally did come back to Middleton, it took too long to get an appointment that she would invariably be gone again before it arrived. The obvious solution would have been to simply accept her mom’s offer, however, she could not hack the idea of having to put up with the overbearing parent who, despite what they might say, still thought she had made a mistake in not going to college, routine. Besides, the claw marks from Shego were the extreme exception when it came to the sort of injuries she sustained; not the rule.

Kim sighed internally. _With the number of notes she’s made from just one fight, I’ll be lucky if I’m allowed to leave tonight, let alone use my own judgement when it comes to my health in future._ A grim thought then crossed her mind, _if she browbeats Wade, who I know will cave, into telling her when and where I’ll get home from now on, I’ll have to both kick his butt and ditch him as my gearhead. Unfortunately, option two lives under mom’s roof and rules…_

“Come on, Kimmie, stand up,” her mom then instructed.

Hesitantly, she got to her feet and wrapped her arms around her torso. Even though it was her mother, she felt exposed; her scars on full display. She could feel a slight panic rising and had to make a concentrated effort to keep her breathing steady. _If I have trouble standing in my undies in front of mom, how am I supposed to bare all to a boy?_ It was a serious problem and one she hastily forced to the back of her head. Hell, back in Geneva the other week, she’d worn a vest and shorts when sitting by the pool and had to take an Ativan; technically obtained unethically via an owed favour, so she could strip off for the masseuse.

The sound of her mom snapping on a pair of latex gloves drew her attention. “Ok, Kim, let’s start at the top,” the woman said as she stepped forwards.

She stood as her mom ran her hands across her scalp and knew the woman’s eyes were looking for something in particular. “Oww,” Kim winced when her mom touched a spot roughly an inch above her right ear; she hadn’t even been aware that it hurt.

“You hit your head when you landed after being thrown,” her mom said by way of an explanation, then added, “the same throw that caused some of your ribs to break.”

“You’ve not even looked at my ribs yet!” Kim protested. _I’m not letting you have that on conjecture._

Her mom brushed the comment off, “all in good time, Sweetie.” Then off-handily added, “I’ll be surprised if that hasn’t caused a concussion, but I’ll get to that in a moment.”

Kim huffed as the rest of her head was subjected to a similar level of scrutiny. After she had finished, her mom stopped to jot down a few notes, which she did not allow her daughter to see. _I bet whatever that says is not good news for me._ She quickly wracked her brain for any other head injuries she might have sustained in the months since her mother last examined her. Unfortunately, they numbered too many to count. _I am so boned._

Her mom then took a penlight from her pocket. “Now, keep your eyes open wide.”

Kim did as she was told and struggled not to blink at the intensity of the light as it was shone into each eye in turn. She was then made to look at her mom’s finger and follow it, finding the action oddly difficult.

“As expected, you’ve got a mild concussion. However, I’m starting to wonder if it’s becoming your default state.” Her mom jotted down a few more notes before producing a tongue depressor. “Open wide.”

“Mom, I didn’t swallow one of Shego’s plasma balls,” she protested but received a stern look that told her no was not an option. Grudgingly, she did as she was told and her mom slipped the thin wooden stick inside her mouth and pressed her tongue flat.

“Hmm…”

“Waht?” she asked as she rolled her eyes.

“The back of your throat is slightly red, however, it’s probably only the start of a secondary infection,” her mom replied.

“Ah sehcohndahy inhechion?”

Her mother ignored her question, “now, say ahh for me.”

“Ahhhhh.”

A few moments later she heard the click of the penlight and the tongue depressor was removed from her mouth. She swallowed a few times as her mom made another note on her pad before saying, “what do you mean a **secondary** infection?”

“Kimmie, I would have thought with your brainpower you’d be able to figure that out,” her mom replied airily as she picked up a tool Kim knew was an ophthalmoscope, (she was the daughter of a doctor after all). “It means that you’ve got a bigger infection somewhere else and that bacteria in your throat is simply taking advantage of the fact that your immune system is busy elsewhere.”

 _Great, at this rate, she’ll have me wearing pyjamas and in my old bed under house arrest before she’s even got to my ribs._ The ophthalmoscope was then inserted in one ear, followed by the other and then, after a quick attachment change, up each nostril in turn. _Damn, she’s not been this thorough… ever. Why couldn’t Drakken have foregone the TV broadcast and just tried to blow up the White House by way of getting the world’s attention?_ She winced when her mom then began to rub at the glands under her chin.

“Yep,” her mom sighed and procured an auditory thermometer. She stuck it in Kim’s ear, where it proceeded to make a high-pitched beep, “you definitely have an infection.” The woman sat it down on the bed and picked up her notepad again.

“Would it do any good if I told you that I felt fine?” Kim asked hopefully.

She got a sideways glance from over the top of the pad for her trouble. “Ok, Honey, let’s get a measure on your heart rate and have a listen to it.”

Reluctantly, Kim unfolded her arms and felt her heart rate increase slightly. _Get a grip of yourself, Possible! Do you want to add something else to you rap-sheet?_ She held out her right hand and let her mom attach the mini heartrate monitor to her index finger. The woman then popped her stethoscope into her ears and placed the closed bell over Kim’s heart. She focused on her breathing as her mom listened and hoped it would be enough to pass scrutiny.

Fortunately, after a minute, “well, I’m glad to say your heart sounds perfectly healthy.” Her mom’s gaze then travelled to the clip on her finger, “and your heart rate is good too, but,” her expression turned into a frown, “your O2 stat is down.”

Kim cringed slightly. “No big?” she asked, but already knew the response would be another stern look as her mom jotted down her findings. “You’re not going to let me get away with even point-one of a variance on anything, are you?”

“If you’d kept up your end of our agreement, none of this would even be necessary.” Her mom then draped her stethoscope over her shoulders and took the clip off her finger. “I suppose I’d better have a look at those ribs before I listen to your lungs. Arms up.”

She groaned as she raised her arms above her head and allowed her mom to remove the strapping. The woman then gasped, “oh, Kimmie! This is worse than I’d expected.”

That wasn’t good. If her mom thought the injury **worse** than she’d expected, then it must be pretty bad. _Damn you, Shego!_ “MMPH!” Kim exclaimed as she tried to stifle a cry of pain as her mom pressed her fingers into the centre of the bruise. “Ok… not going to lie… that hurt,” she said as she struggled to take in a deep breath. She continued to wince and whimper as the area was poked and prodded some more.

“Kim, you should have come to see me the moment you got home yesterday,” her mom then admonished as she stood up and plugged her stethoscope into her ears once more. “At least three of those are broken.”

 ** _Three!_** _… **at least!** I thought it was only one! Oh shit! And I went and did my run and full morning workout this morning. _In hindsight, it had been a stupid thing to do. The pain when she had woken up had been sharp and had she not been more bothered by her hangover headache and using codeine to make it go away, she probably would have thought better of it. The open bell of the stethoscope was then placed against her back.

“Ok, Kimmie, take a deep breath in for me…”

She did.

“…and out again. Good. Now cough for me.”

She was forced to repeat the process for all six regions of her lungs.

Once she was finished, her mom removed the stethoscope from her ears and let out the sigh of a disappointed and concerned mother, “I’m sorry, Sweetie, but it sounds like you’ve got the start of a respiratory infection.” The woman looked ponderous for a moment. “However, it shouldn’t have developed so soon after your injury, unless you already had an infection of some sort.” Her expression then turned to one of worry. “I’ll get some x-ray’s in a moment, but first I want to finish examining you.”

“Hold on, back up a minute,” Kim said in alarm, “what do you mean x-rays! I don’t want to go to the hospital.”

“Don’t be silly, Honey,” her mom replied in a light, placating tone, “there’s no need for us to go to the hospital. I had your brothers set up a rather good system inside your old wardrobe.”

“Inside my wardrobe!” Kim exclaimed. She was not sure which part she found more insane, that the Tweebs and built an x-ray machine for their mother; or that they had done it inside her old wardrobe.

“Of course. The walls of it were lined with steel when the house was rebuilt so as to protect your battle suit. It’s not lead, but provides more than adequate protection against a few x-rays.”

 _Great, thanks a lot, Tweebs!_ She sighed, “how long has that been in there?”

“Since last night. Although the fine-tuning wasn’t complete until this morning.” Her mom gave her a knowing smile. “I had to bribe Jim and Tim with extra dessert last night, tonight and tomorrow to get it ready in time, but they’ve done a really good job.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you’ve been planning for this eventuality for a while?”

“Oh, Kimmie, don’t be silly.” He mother picked up a blood pressure cuff and slipped it around Kim’s upper arm. “You make it sound as though I expected my daughter to ignore sound medical advice.” Her mom then turned the device on.

She felt the cuff inflate around her upper arm and tighten like a vice for a few moments before it relaxed.

Her mom jotted the reading down on her notepad and then removed it. “Ok, give me some movement in those arms.”

Kim knew this was a shorthand way of saying, rotate and flex all your joints while I stand and scrutinise each and every motion, but complied nonetheless. After a minute or two, her mom’s gloved hands then made their way along each arm in turn as she tested every joint from her shoulders to the third knuckles in her pinkies. It transpired that she had two sprained fingers on her left hand, which got strapped together and that her right shoulder had popped out at some point, probably during the same crash landing that broke her ribs, but not gone back in properly.

“Here, bite down on this,” her mom then said and handed her an old leather belt that had seemed out of place amidst the other medical supplies, but that Kim now knew the reason for.

“You were prepared for this?” she said before taking the leather between her teeth. _Fuck, this is going to hurt!_

“I had a suspicion.” Her mom placed her hands on the joint. “Lucky for me, Dr Lipsky spent so much time monologuing and pacing that he didn’t notice that his henchmen’s attention and thus the camera was focused on you and…”

“MMMHHH!!!” Kim yelled, pain shooting through her shoulder as it was rotated out of the joint and pushed back in; her teeth sank into the belt.

“…Shego,” her mom finished.

After a few moments, once the pain had subsided, she spat the belt onto the floor. “Little bit of warning next time!”

“If I’d warned you, all that would have happened is that you would have tensed up and made it much more difficult. Now, same again with your legs and let’s hope neither of your hips have popped out.”

Kim did as requested and began moving her legs. Again, her mom checked every joint from her hips to her little toes on each leg, but found nothing out of place this time. “So, where’s dad?” she asked when her mom stopped to add to her notes.

“Your father went into the lab this morning. Something about him being a soft touch that you might try to hide behind in order to stop me checking you over.”

Kim couldn’t help but laugh, “so, you packed him off to work in order to have your wicked way with me.”

“Kimmie,” her mom replied in mock offence, then leaned in and whispered in her ear,” if you think I’m wicked now, just wait until you’ve seen the size of the hypodermic I’ve got waiting for you.”

Kim gulped and drew a laugh from her mom’s lips. “You’re joking, right?”

“Of course, Sweetie. At the rate you're going, it’s going to be two at least.”

She groaned, “non-negotiable?”

“Non-negotiable,” her mom repeated firmly. “Now, hold still while I take a look at your neck and spine.”

With no other option available, she complied. Her mom then rotated her neck from side to side, forward and back, then both clockwise and anti-clockwise. She winced slightly and knew that the woman had heard her. _Why did I not notice half of these injuries when I got home last night?_ The answer came quickly. _I was still running on adrenaline and excitement at going out to meet Shego and then drunk enough to dull it all until this morning when I promptly hit it with codeine._ Ultimately, bar the fact that she would not have done her morning workout, the knowledge would have done her no good. She had made a promise to her mom yesterday and known that she needed to keep it.

Her mom sat her notepad down after some more scribbles. “Ok, let’s have a look at these wounds and then it’s off to Narnia with you, Lucy.”

Kim rolled her eyes at the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe reference. Her mom started at the topmost of seven covered wounds that she’d accumulated over the week; four from yesterday. The first one, located on her upper right arm, got cleaned with an antiseptic wipe and then closed with steri-strips. Numbers two and three, above her left breast and over her lower back, got away with just a simple clean with an antiseptic wipe and a fresh dressing. However, number four, on her left-hand side, was the first to draw comment.

“This one needs sutures,” her mom said disapprovingly as she showed Kim the amount of blood that covered the dressing she’d put on that morning. The woman then patted the edge of the bed, “have a seat.”

Kim sat and watched her mom fetch the desk chair so she could sit down in front of her. She received her first hypodermic, one that she knew did not count towards the running total of two, and felt the area start to go numb. Meanwhile, her mother threaded a suture. After the wound was thoroughly cleaned with a swab soaked in antiseptic, she turned away before her mom inserted the suture into her flesh. While she had no issue with the sight of blood, she did not like seeing her own flesh getting sewn back together. Largely because she knew it would probably be the sight of her next scar.

“Ok, four down, three to go,” her mom said once she had finished the sutures and re-dressed the wound.

Kim stood up again, while her mom remained seated so she could check the three that were on her legs; two on the right, one on the left. Number five across the front of her right thigh, simply got a clean and a new dressing, while number six, over her right knee, got cleaned and closed with steri-strips. Which left only…

“Oh, God!” her mom exclaimed as she removed the last dressing from the back of Kim’s left thigh, just below her backside. “Kimmie, what on earth happened?”

“What?” she asked in confusion, oblivious as to why her mom was making such a fuss. “That one was no big. I just scratched my leg a little on the jagged edge of a vent when I jumped out earlier in the week.”

“Kim, that ‘little scratch’ is massively infected. Haven’t you been able to see it?”

“No,” she replied, “it’s too close to my backside and I guess I never thought to take a closer look in the mirror.”

“But surely you can feel how hot it is?” her mom asked, still sounding like she was in shock that her daughter had failed to notice how bad one of her wounds had gotten.

“I guess I’ve been that busy, I haven’t really paid much attention to it. Although, now that you mention it, I did wonder this morning why it hadn’t healed yet.”

There was a note of genuine concern in her mom’s voice when she said, “well, I guess this answers the question of why your immune system is so low that you’re starting to develop a respiratory infection after only suffering the broken ribs yesterday.” The woman then sighed and Kim knew this was a sign that she was pondering what to do. “Ok,” she said after a few moments of silence, “given that you don’t feel ill at the moment, I’m going to clean, suture and dress this, then give you a tetanus shot and some antibiotics. Hopefully, that should do the trick, but I can’t guarantee it. If it doesn’t, I’ll need to take you into hospital tomorrow and get you something more targeted. Which means you’ll be staying the night.”

“But, Mom…”

“No ifs, buts or maybes about it, Kimberly Ann,” her mom replied firmly, “you’re staying the night so I can keep an eye on you and that’s that.”

Kim knew from her mother’s tone that there would be no point in arguing. _Ok, so I was joking when I thought she’d end up making me stay the night. And I’d happily bet this isn’t the last I’ll be hearing about this. Damn that stupid vent!_ “Ok, I’ll stay the night if it’ll make you happy.”

“I’ll be happy when my daughter starts taking her health seriously.” As though to emphasise her point, her mom picked up a mirror and held it behind Kim’s thigh so that she could see the offending wound.

The area around the open red line was seriously inflamed and yellow and the laceration itself sticky with a cocktail of blood and puss. The rest of her upper thigh was bright red. _Holy crap that does look bad._ Instinctively, she reached a hand down and could feel the heat radiating from the site before her hand even made contact with her skin. Needless to say, she would have to keep a much closer eye on her wounds in future.

“Ok, Kimmie, hold still.”

She did so and watched her mom pick up a pair of tweezers and a second small hypodermic. She felt only a light pinprick before the area started to go numb, but she could still feel the light pressure as something was expertly plucked out of the wound. Her mom then held it up for her to see. It was a tiny, no bigger than half a nail clipping, fragment of rusted metal. The woman then picked up a swab and the bottle of antiseptic to clean the wound, which she then sealed with a few sutures.

“Right then, let’s get you into the wardrobe,” her mother then said and gave her backside a light pat as she stood up and ushered her over to the makeshift x-ray cabinet.

Kim reluctantly followed and stepped through the door into the empty box that had once housed her clothes. Her mom closed the door behind her and everything went dark. Given that she was used to crawling through much tighter spaces than this, it did not bother her. What did was the knowledge that the Tweebs had been responsible for the construction of the device. _Knowing them, I’ll probably walk out of here either with superpowers or as a mutated abomination._

“Just hold still, Kimmie, and we’ll be done in a jiff,” she heard her mom’s muffled voice say from the outside.

There was a series of flashes from behind her, but she did not move until her mom said, “ok, you can come out now.”

Kim stepped back into her bedroom and saw her mom staring intently at her old computer monitor, which displayed a digital image of her x-rays. She did not fail to notice the scribbles made on the notepad and the grim look on the woman’s face as she stood up.

“Right, let’s give you your shots.”

“Do I have to?” Kim moaned, more out of habit than anything else as she already knew the answer. “I really do feel fine.” Then, as though to spite herself, she coughed.

Her mom looked at her with mock disdain. “Once you’ve gone to college, got a medical degree and completed your internship and residency, then you can **query** my medical judgement. Until then...”

“You wouldn’t listen to even if I did,” she replied quickly.

Her mom smiled, “nope. Because regardless of that, I’m your mother and I know best.”

“Someone ought to create a villain with that motto.”

Kim followed her mother back to her bed and sat down. She watched as the woman opened a box and removed two vials and two hypodermics, one noticeably larger than the other. It was the smaller of the two that was unpackaged first and a shot prepared from the first vial. Reluctantly, she held out her right arm, but only felt the light touch of an antiseptic wipe followed by a tiny pinprick as the needle pierced her flesh and the serum was administered. Her mom then began preparing the second shot.

“Are you allowed to have antibiotics at home?” Kim then asked, thinking about the somewhat unethical nature of the favour she had called in to get the Ativan.

“No,” her mom replied, her tone serious. “And if someone were to find out, I would be in serious trouble.”

“Then why...”

“Because you’re my daughter and I know you would rather be treated out with hospital. Besides, you’re not the only one who has favours owed to them.”

It was only then that Kim realised just how far her mom had been willing to go in order to make sure she was ok. _She couldn’t have known that I would have needed these injections_ _,_ _but risked her job regardless, just in case._ She felt a bubble of guilt, which had been steadily building throughout the course of the exam, burst inside her. _Mom’s doing all this because she’s worried about me and because she knew I’d break my promise. Is that really the sort of person I’ve become, someone whose own mother no longer trusts them to keep a promise?_ The thought was quickly overruled, _I save the world on a regular basis, I deserve to be cut some slack!_

When she saw that her mom had finished preparing the second injection, Kim held out her left arm.

“I’m sorry, Kimmie, but I need a bigger target for this one,” her mom said sympathetically.

She groaned, “you don’t mean...”

“I’m afraid so. I’ll try and make it as painless as I can.”

Grudgingly, Kim stood up, turned around and bent over her bed. She felt her mom shift her panties slightly and rub a spot on her right glute with an antiseptic wipe. Her eyes screwed up and she tensed even before she felt the large hypodermic break her skin and force its way into her backside. She stifled an elongated grimace, the injection seeming to take an age. When eventually the needle was removed, she let out a long breath, “oww.”

“I know, Honey, but there was no other option. Now, I’ve already taken the liberty of picking out some loungewear for you.”

Kim’s gaze travelled over the medical supplies to a neatly folded stack of clothes on the pillow. _She really did think this through in advance. Were the odds of me having some sort of infection that high, or was she planning on keeping me overnight regardless of what she found?_ Sighing, she straightened up and busied herself with dressing in a pair of lilac trousers, a matching vest and some fluffy socks, while her mom disposed of the medical waste and packed away her supplies. The clothes felt new.

When she had finished, her mother then said, “shall we go downstairs and have a cup of tea?”

Kim nodded and followed her out of the bedroom, noting that her mom was clutching her notepad. _Great, now I get to listen to my rap sheet._ While the thought crossed her mind, she could not help but feel as though she deserved it. _I made mom a promise and I broke it. Not only that, but I blew her off last weekend and then forgot about her until such time as Wade reminded me._ Only her brain quickly countered that thought with, _I didn’t intentionally break it and I’ve never been bad enough to need to see a doctor. I’d just be wasting their valuable time._

They went downstairs and through into the kitchen and she did not fail to notice the now properly ordered and cleaned hallway and the sounds emanating from the garage. It seemed the Tweebs had dealt with the mess their auto-turret had caused and moved on to working on the Sloth. She stood and waited on her mom boiling the kettle, taking the offer of lemon and ginger tea with honey. Once the beverages were made, they took them into the lounge along with a plate of homemade cookies.

Sitting down on the sofa so that she was facing her mom, she tucked her feet behind her backside and blew lightly on her tea. There was a slightly awkward silence, her mom clearly deciding how she wished to approach the elephant in the room and Kim having no wish to draw attention to it.

“So,” her mom eventually began, “I don’t think there is an easy way to broach this issue, so I apologise in advance if I sound overbearing or overly critical, but I need you to listen to me, Kim.” The woman paused to take a sip of her tea and perhaps to allow the severity of her warning to set in. Her mother shook her head and sighed, “Kim, this,” she held up her notepad, “doesn’t paint a pretty picture of what’s happened to you since I last checked you over a few months ago. In fact, I’d go as far to say that it frightens me. At present, you’ve got a mild concussion, two sprained fingers, a shoulder that needed reset in the joint, three broken ribs plus two cracked ones on your right side, one rib on your left side that looks like it was cracked a couple of weeks ago and hasn’t fully healed, the start of both throat and respiratory infections, five minor lacerations and two that needed sutures; one of which is massively infected. That’s before I even get into all the other head traumas and lacerations that I can tell you have sustained over the past few months. And what makes it all worse is that you’ve already admitted to me that you haven’t seen a doctor since then. In short, I am deeply concerned that you are not taking proper care of yourself.”

Kim did not know how to respond in the face of such damming testimony. While her instinctive reaction had been to try and whitewash it, she knew she couldn’t, not this time. In the end, the only thing she could think to say was, “I’m sorry, Mom. Sorry for making you worry.”

Her mother’s expression did not soften any. It seemed an apology wasn’t going to cut it. “Kim, this isn’t just about the fact that your father and I are worried about you, this is about the genuine disregard you seem to have for your health and what might happen to you if you carry on in the same reckless manner.” Her mom sighed again, “if I hadn’t browbeaten you into coming over today, you probably would have jetted off again come Monday morning or not even come home at all. Meanwhile, your immune system would have continued to weaken as it tried and failed to fight off multiple infections. At what point would you have decided you needed to see a doctor…?”

Kim couldn’t answer.

“…When your cough got worse? When your temperature got so high you passed out from the fever? Or maybe once your left thigh became gangrenous and the dead flesh started to fall away?”

She stared into her teacup as her mom listed the scenarios. For the first time, she genuinely pondered the question, w _hen would I have realised that I needed help?_ Images flashed through her mind. Of her in the artic, the freezing air catching in her chest as she struggled to take a breath and then broke out into a massive coughing fit. Next, she was in the jungle, with its humid conditions and sweat dripping from her as she keeled over from the fever. Finally, she was in a hotel room, staring in a small mirror at the mass of oozing puss that seeped from her blackened thigh when she removed a dressing. Now that her mother put the question to her, each scenario seemed that much more real. _Surely, I wouldn’t put off getting proper treatment until one of those eventualities befell me?_ She had a sinking feeling that the answer to that was yes, however, her pride quickly shoved it aside. _Don’t be stupid, Kim, of course you wouldn’t have let it get that far. Mom’s just over-reacting, again._

“Mom, I appreciate your concern, but I would never have let it get to that stage. I know my body and my limits,” she replied firmly. “And I make sure that I’m ok before I start a mission.”

“Kim, please,” her mother implored, “I’m not telling you to stop doing your missions, I wouldn’t even try, but surely you can see that you have a problem.”

“Mom, I’m ok, really,” Kim reiterated. While she had no desire to start an argument, she felt a need to get her point across. “Ok, so maybe I should have come to see you yesterday after my mission, but I knew I was coming over today anyway and I really did feel fine yesterday. In fact, I still do.”

However, her mom was not yet willing to drop the matter. “And what about your leg, Kim? You didn’t even realise it was infected!”

“Ok, so maybe I missed that one,” she conceded, “but I would have noticed it sooner rather than later and would have got it treated properly. So, no big.”

Her mom shook her head. “Kimberly, I don’t think you realise just how precarious this situation is. What if something serious had happened to you?”

“But something serious didn’t happen to me. I knew I was coming here today, I let you check me over and treat my injuries, what more do you want?” Her closing remark held more bite than she had intended, but if it got the point across so be it, for she was getting seriously tired of having the same arguments every time she visited her parents. Once they finally cleared the subject of her health, it would be on to her social life and then inevitably her non-existent love life. By dinnertime, she would then have to fend off a joint attack from both parents, where they would both drop innocent hints about what other people her age were doing or of opportunities at various colleges that someone had told them about and so on. _I don’t need people telling me how to manage my life. I take down super-villains for a living for Christ’s sake! I can take care of myself!_

Except before then, “I’d like for you to start looking after yourself properly, but since I don’t seem to be getting through to you, I’ll settle for you keeping the promise that you made me. Every time you come home, I want you to come and see me, so I can address your injuries. I’ll even come over to your apartment if you’d prefer.”

And so, she came to the juncture. Her mom had given ground and tabled an offer that would end the discussion for another day, should she choose to take it. Or she could dig in her heels and push for her to back off, lest their relationship return to the fractured state it had been in after she’d chosen to become a fulltime hero. _On one hand, I want nothing more than for her and dad to get off my case, but on the other, I hated how things were between us after I chose to become a fulltime hero and up until the point I broke up with Ron._ She sipped some of her tea as she pondered her options. _I suppose I did already make a promise to her and then broke it. Would it really be so bad if I let her patch me up every time I come home?_ Deep inside she heard a voice scream, _“YES!”_ but it was quickly drowned out by another thought, _show, don’t tell._ If her mom maybe saw that, by and large, she was fine when she came home from her missions, maybe she would back off slightly and trust her to come to her when she actually needed treatment.

She raised her eyes and met her mom’s gaze. “Ok, I’ll let you check me over when I come home next time.”

“And every time after that,” her mom added, perhaps sensing her daughter was trying to dupe her.

“Ok,” Kim sighed, “you can check me over whenever I’m home, but once you see that there isn’t a problem, you trust me to come to you when I actually need to be seen by a doctor.”

“I’ll take that,” her mom said. The woman then quickly set her cup down on the coffee table and opened her arms up for a hug.

She followed suit with her own cup before they embraced.

“I love you, Kimmie cub, and I only want to make sure that you're safe. But you have to keep your promise this time.”

“I love you too, Mom,” she replied, before adding, “and I will, promise.”

Mother and daughter broke off the hug and settled back down on the sofa.

“So,” her mom said with a warm smile, “what’s the story about this jazz bar tomorrow night?”

Kim’s eyes widened, causing her mom to laugh. “How did you…” she sighed, “seriously, that’s the first thing Monique did when I dropped her back home?”

“No,” her mom chuckled, “she text me with lots of exclamation marks as soon as you had agreed to it. So, tell me everything.”

She rolled her eyes and picked up a cookie from the plate on the table. “Ok, but there’s not much to tell.”

“Tell me anyway. You know I always want to hear about what’s going on in your love life. Especially if there are any boys that you like the look of.”

“Mom,” she laughed, “we’ve not even been out yet.” As the words left her mouth a voice from the deep recesses of her mind said, _“no boys, but definitely a girl. Isn’t that right, Kimmie?”_ Kim shuddered on hearing Shego’s sultry tone, however, it was quickly snuffed out by the Barkin-dragon, _“you like boys, Possible!”_

 _I like boys,_ Kim reminded herself firmly, but felt herself try and reach for the box containing her recent memories of Shego, only to have the Barkin-dragon bark at her, _“don’t even think about it, Possible. You like boys, end of discussion.”_

 _…Yes, I like boys._ Kim took a bite out of her cookie then launched into an explanation of what her plans with Monique were tomorrow night, emphasising the hunt for a boyfriend and also making sure she included the fact she’d checked out some boys back in California; earlier in the week. However, just the mere sound of Shego’s seductive voice had put her on edge and she was left with one pressing thought, _I **need** to meet a nice boy tomorrow. _


	20. The pleasure is to play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so we return to Shego as she suffers through game day with Drakken, Amy and Killigan. I had a hell of a lot of fun writing this chapter, hence why it ended up being so long. Continuing on from chapter 18, the title of this one, The pleasure is to play, is also taken from the lyrics to Motorhead's Ace of spades. Like chapter 14, I've split this one into parts and given them each their own title, one part for each game they play. The parts are titled, Twist and shout, a song by Scottish band Deacon Blue, I shot the sheriff, a song by Eric Clapton and Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash, taken from the lyrics to Pink Floyd's Money.

**Chapter Nineteen: The pleasure is to play**

**Part one: Twist and Shout**

“Heh, heh, heh, heh,” the naked-mole-shark laughed as the twister wheel landed on left-hand yellow.

“Dammit, Amy, why is that naked-mole-shark ‘o yours only cheatin’ when it comes tae ma turn!” Duff Killigan boomed as he twisted his left arm over the top of Shego and under the chest of Dr Drakken.

“I wouldn’t keep saying that, Duffy,” DNAmy warned, “or he’ll start getting vindictive. Because he’s a naughty little boy, aren’t you, Ru-Ru.”

A sly smirk formed on the naked-mole-shark’s face and he made a biting motion with his razor-sharp teeth.

The Scotsman’s hand then came to rest atop another.

“Don’t even think about it, Killigan,” Shego grunted the second she felt the man’s hand make contact with her skin. She turned on her glow and increased the temperature in her hand; without properly igniting it.

“AH! Ya wee deil (devil)!” Duff yelped and quickly withdrew his hand. “ Can ya no move o’er one, Lassie?”

“Sorry, Duffy,” she mocked in a sassy tone, “but I don’t think that’s in the rules, right, Ru-Ru?”

The naked-mole-shark glared at Killigan and shook his head, “ut-uh.”

The man’s hand slapped the mat a few times as he tried to extend it beyond Shego’s and to the next spot. Eventually, after the naked-mole-shark had given him a threatening chomp of encouragement, he managed to plant it firmly on the spot. “Ha, there she goes.”

“Well, it’s about time,” Drakken huffed irritably as Ru-Ru spun his spinner of torment. “I think we should impose a time limit from now on.”

Shego, who had seen what the spinner had just landed on, burst out laughing. “Yeah, well, hate to break it to you, Dr D, but you’ll be first for the chomp.”

“Say what?” the mad scientist then said in confusion.

“It’s your turn and you just hit right foot green!”

Drakken’s eyes glanced over to the Twister wheel and widened in horror as he let out a loud, sheer gasp, followed by, “HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT!”

Shego laughed again, “don’t ask me. You’re supposed to be the genius, you figure it out.”

“Heh, heh, heh, heh!” Ru-Ru laughed evilly and licked his lips in anticipation of claiming another taste of flesh.

She watched as Drakken struggled to lift his right foot from a red spot, bring it around Killigan towards his own chest and then extend it forward over her head and touch it back down on the mat.

“There,” Drakken said, “am I on the spot?”

Shego gave him a smirk, “I’ll let Ru-Ru tell you.”

Drakken’s foot began to flail around, trying to locate a spot that he could not see, as the naked-mole-shark leapt off his perch. “NO… WAIT! I CAN…”

“Time’s up, Dr D.”

“AHHHH!” One last slap of the mad scientist's foot hitting the mat sounded and his yell ended; the naked-mole-shark having ‘guided’ it onto the spot. Drakken then shot her a sour look, “I hope you have to do the same!”

“Don’t be a meanie, Drewbie,” Amy scolded. “It’s not nice to wish bad things on others.”

“Ach, havers, Woman,” Duff chipped in. “It’s all in good humour.”

Shego rolled her eyes, “urgh, can we please just get on with this.”

This was only the first game and already she was feeling her sanity slip away. _Why do I end up in these situations?_ An image of Miss Go flashed through her mind and she shuddered. However, she was beginning to wonder if putting up with the rouge part of her mind would actually have been less grating than putting up with this bunch of loonies. _And I thought Drakken by himself was irritating!_ Her eyes glanced over to Ru-Ru’s perch, as the naked-mole-shark hopped back up and spun the spinner once more. It went around several times before landing on…

“YES!” Drakken exclaimed gleefully. “Take that, Shego!”

The spinner had stopped on left-foot green.

Ru-Ru gnashed his teeth as he sniggered, “heh, heh.”

Shego let out an exaggerated sigh and said sarcastically, “oh, no, not left-foot green! How will I ever manage that?” She then proceeded to lift her left-foot from a blue spot, bend it over her back and touch her foot back down on the mat.

“You can’t do that!” Drakken declared in outrage, “it’s not fair… That’s cheating!”

“There’s nowt in the rules aboot bein’ flexible, Drew,” Killigan said.

“He’s right, Drewbie,” Amy added. “Isn’t that right, Ru-Ru.”

The naked-mole-shark reluctantly nodded his head in agreement. However, his eyes then lit up and he shot down from his perch.

Shego’s eyes looked at her barefoot (gloves and socks apparently gave you an unfair advantage, so all parties had been made to remove them) and saw that her big toe was not fully on the green spot. She smiled internally, _come on you little rodent-fish, see what happens when you try and take a bite out of me._ Without igniting her plasma, she turned her glow on and rapidly heated up her foot.

Ru-Ru scampered across the mat, opened his small jaws and dived at her naked foot. His tongue caught her foot before his teeth had even grazed her skin. He let out a loud yelp and quickly darted away.

Shego laughed as she watched the rodent-fish zoom up onto the table, dive into a picture of iced tea and drain the lot.

“Oh, you big meanie!” Amy scolded before glancing over to her ‘Cuddle Buddy’, “are you ok, Sweetums?”

The naked-mole-shark climbed out of the picture, his tongue hanging out as he panted. He then glared at Shego and shook one of his little fists at her as he let out a series of unintelligible curses.

“You’ll have to try better than that if you want a taste of my flesh,” she replied with a smirk.

The creature grumbled as he made his way back to his perch and spun the spinner again.

“OH NO!” Drakken, Killigan and Shego then said in alarm when it came up right-hand red.

Ru-Ru rolled over onto his back as he burst out laughing.

“Oh dear,” Amy said. The only feasible spot available to her being diagonally across the mat. “Ru-Ru, did you fiddle with that spinner?”

“Ut-uh,” the naked-mole-shark said and shook its head, then burst out into the evillest of laughs possible for a creature of his genetically messed up nature. In anticipation of getting to bite Amy, he hopped down and scampered over to the spot where her hand needed to reach.

With the only option available to her being to go over the top of the other three players, the plump woman stretched out her arm towards the spot.

“Amy, I don’t think, “Drakken began, before shouting, “AHHH!” Amy having started to put her weight down on top of him.

“Are ye daft, Woman,” Killigan managed to blurt out before he yelled, “SWEET JESUS! GET OFF, YA HEAVY LUMUX!”

 _Oh, crap,_ Shego thought, as she felt various parts of the three villains press down atop her. However, she could do nothing but groan as she watched Amy helplessly bat at the spot that was her goal.

Nonchalantly, Ru-Ru sauntered over to her flailing limb.

“Sweetums, you wouldn’t do that to mommy,” Amy desperately pleaded.

The naked-mole-shark gave her a wicked grin before casually opening his mouth.

“Ru-Ru, please,” Amy begged, “don’t you love me?”

The creature paused, thought for a moment, then raised a paw and shook it in a, ‘meh’, sort of gesture. He then proceeded to chomp down on his ‘mommy’s’ hand.

“YEOWCH!” Amy squealed as her body shot upwards.

 _Oh, SHIT!_ Shego cursed internally as she felt the pressure on her body suddenly lift. _What goes up, must come down!_

“AHH!” Drakken and Killigan simultaneously yelped as the woman’s full weight crashed down atop them.

“Oww,” Shego grunted from the bottom of the pile and blew a few strands of her raven hair out of her face. She watched as Ru-Ru walked in front of her. “You like this game because no-one really wins, don’t you?”

The naked-mole-shark sniggered and nodded his head, “uh-hu, uh-hu.”

And so ended game one.

**Part two: I shot the sheriff**

After they had managed to disentangle themselves from one another, stretch off some very sore limbs and everyone, bar Shego, bandage a bite mark, the collusion of villains had refreshed themselves with a much-needed glass of iced tea from a fresh picture and then seated themselves down at the table. By decision of their malevolent referee, the next game to be played was Clue. Only this version was a little different from the one Shego remembered from her childhood. In fact, she rather liked the alterations.

Instead of the normal Clue characters, such as Miss Scarlet and Colonel Mustard, this version had figurines of several villains Shego knew well; one of them intimately so, albeit in their alter ego forms. Dr Lipskey, Professor DeMenz, Mr Killigan, Dr Hall, Lord Fiske and of course, the dangerously beautiful Miss Shego. The murder weapons had also been spiced up from the boring old candlestick and dagger etc to the death-ray, ballistic Bondo ball, explosive golf ball, genetic scrambler, monkey’s fist and the deadliest of them all, the green plasma ball. A glance at the board showed that the classic manor setting, with its library and ballroom, had been replaced with various villains’ lairs and deadly situations, such as the speeding train and active volcano. And on the middle of the board; where the solution envelope sat, the pièce de résistance, a picture of the murder victim herself, world hero and bane of villains everywhere; Kim Possible.

Ru-Ru, wearing a little detective’s hat with a pipe between his teeth, shuffled the three sets of cards, picked one from each, took a sneaky peek at them and sniggered as he slotted them into the envelope. He then proceeded to combine the decks into one, shuffle them, then deal them out to the four villains at lightning pace.

“You’d make quite the croupier,” Shego commented as she picked up her cards, glanced at them and marked each of them off on her detective note.

The naked-mole-shark nodded emphatically, “mh-hm!” then busied himself with depositing the player figurines and murder weapons around the board.

Dr Drakken rubbed his hands and snatched the die from the board. “Who loves a good game of clue?” he hummed rhetorically, before adding, “I do, I do.” He went to roll the die, however, Shego cut him off.

“Hold it, Dr D,” she said sharply. “I seem to recall that the femme fatale always goes first in this game. And since that’s me, fork over the die.”

“What?” Drakken declared, “I will not. This is my lair, my game day and **my board game**! I’m going first.”

“I dinnae think so, Laddie,” Killigan then said. “You went first las’ time, it’s ma turn!”

“Now everyone, let’s not fight about it. Why don’t we ask Ru-Ru?” Amy placated.

All eyes turned to the naked-mole-shark, who was busy scanning the rules. “Ah-ha!” he then declared, tossed the sheet of paper aside, marched across the board to Dr Drakken and held out his paw, “hmm-hmm, die.”

“No, it’s mine,” Drakken declared in defiance and moved the hand containing the die away from the creature. “It’s not fair! I want to go first.”

The naked-mole-shark locked eyes with the super-villain and gnashed his razor-sharp teeth.

Shego watched in amusement as a sweat drop rolled down the side of Drakken’s face and his hand began to tremble.

Naturally, he cracked, “ok, fine, take it.” He thrust the die at Ru-Ru, folded his arms and began to sulk.

Both her and Killigan laughed when the naked-mole-shark stuck out its tongue and blew a raspberry at the grumpy villain.

“Oh, you little scamp, Ru-Ru,” Amy admonished as she shook her head. “What have I told you about such behaviour?”

Ru-Ru looked at the stern expression on the geneticist’s face and shrugged his shoulders, “meh.” He then promptly marched across the board and deposited the die into Shego’s outstretched hand.

“Thanking you, Ru-Ru,” she said and gave the rodent-fish a sly smile. She then caught his eye as she reached into a bowl of cheesy puffs and tossed him a few, “and there’s more where they came from.”

She saw the gleam in the naked-mole-shark’s eyes as he smiled back at her, before munching down on his well-earned snack. _Looks like he takes after Stoppable’s rodent in that regard. And it seems he’s only a stickler for the rules when their to his benefit, as I think I might have just bribed the ref. Now, let’s find out who killed Kimmie._ She rolled the die and moved her mini-me figurine five spaces towards Killigan’s castle; blissfully ignoring the fact that she’d just shown the first signs, at least internally, that she was having some measure of fun.

The game proceeded and to no surprise of hers, Dr Drakken made a b-line straight for the room labelled, ‘Lipsky’s lair’, reaching it on his second turn.

“Right, it was Dr Lipsky in his own lair with the death-ray!” he declared triumphantly.

Ru-Ru picked up the miniature death-ray and placed it inside Lipsky’s lair.

As she was the player on Drakken’s left, Shego was first in line to debunk his theory. “Sorry, Dr, D,” she said with a grin as she showed him a card, “no dice.”

“Hmph,” the mad-scientist huffed as he passed the die to her.

Several more rounds passed, with Drakken moving to nearby rooms and declaring himself the murderer with one of the other weapons. And each time she showed him a card; the same card. By the time he reached his fourth room, she let out an audible groan.

“I think it was Dr Lipsky, in the undersea lair with the exploding golf ball!”

“Urgh, give it up, Dr D,” Shego said long-sufferingly as she did a facepalm. “You didn’t kill Kimmie!”

“Way to go tell everyone, Shego,” Drakken retorted, as though he had been bragging about killing the real Kimmie and she’d just outed him as a fraud.

She shook her head; _he really is an idiot._ “They all know you didn’t kill Kimmie!”

“Aye, the lass is right.”

“Well, I didn’t want to say anything, Drewbie…”

“Uh-hu, uh-hu!”

“But I wanted to be the one who killed her,” Drakken huffed.

“Yeah, well, you didn’t, so accuse someone else next time.” She snatched the die from his hand.

“It’s called process of elimination, Shego. It’s how detectives solve cases,” Drakken retorted irately.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yes, and it only works in this game if you don’t keep seeing the **same** card from me each time you make an accusation!” She withdrew the Dr Lipsky card from her hand, held it out to the naked-mole-shark and said, “if he asks again, show him this and then take a bite out of his finger.”

Ru-Ru took the card, then pointed at the bowl of cheesy puffs and rubbed his stomach.

Shego reached into the bowl and set another three on the table for him and received a salute before the naked-mole-shark scampered off to claim his prize.

“Now, Ru-Ru, don’t you go filling up on junk again. You know you’re supposed to be on a strict diet,” Amy reprimanded.

The naked-mole-shark blew his creator a raspberry and defiantly shoved a cheesy puff into his mouth.

The threat of getting his fingers bitten by Ru-Ru worked wonders at stopping Dr Drakken from naming himself as the suspect again. The game went on and by the time it entered into its closing stages, both herself and Killigan had started to employ dirty tactics in order to prevent the other from winning. In one instance, the Scotsman had purposefully blocked her from entering the genetics lab and in another, she’d named him the suspect, just so she could drag his token to the opposite side of the board. In the end, it became a race between the two of them to get into the room labelled, ‘narrow beam above a scorpion pit’.

 _Come on, mommy needs a six._ She rolled the die, both her and Killigan’s eyes fixed upon it. It bounced over the lip in the board, _come on,_ flicked off of the Shego figurine, _don’t let me down…_ and landed on six. A triumphant grin spread across her face. “Sorry, Duffy,” she said, her tone laced with sass, as she picked up her token and purposefully touched each of the five squares en-route to the room and placed it down inside with a satisfying thud.

“Ach, no!” Killigan groaned in dismay. “A wis only twa spaces awa’.”

“I think,” she began with an amused smile, “it was yours truly, on the narrow beam above a scorpion pit, with the green plasma ball.”

The look of dismay on Killigan’s face turned to one of confusion. “Whit?” he said, before starting to laugh. “Dinnae be daft, Lassie. It wisna you who killed the Possible lass,” and then forgetting that he was supposed to keep his theories to himself, added, “it wis me! Ah finished her off.”

She looked at him completely unphased. “As I’ve told Dr D on more than one occasion, only one person gets to finish off Kimmie; me. Now, does anyone want to argue that fact with a card?”

Drakken grudgingly shook his head.

“Not me, Sweetie,” Amy said.

Her gaze turned to Killigan, “Duffy?”

“Yer jist bluffing us, Lass,” he said firmly but nonetheless sat his cards down on the table.

“Well, in that case,” she picked a cheesy puff out of the bowl and held it out to the naked-mole-shark, “Ru-Ru, if you please.”

The creature scoffed down the cheesy puff and then scampered to the centre of the board, picked up the solution envelope and handed it to her.

“Thanking you,” she said, withdrew the cards from the envelope and smiled as she glanced at them. Shego then set each one down on the table in turn as she said, “yours truly, on the narrow beam above a scorpion pit, with the green plasma ball.”

She received a round of applause from the naked-mole-shark.

“Oh well played, Sweetie,” Amy said by way of congratulations.

“Aye, well played, Lass,” Killigan added graciously. “I take it you’re holding ma caird?”

Shego turned her hand of cards around and showed the Scotsman that she was indeed holding the card with his portrait on it. She then flashed a grin at Drakken. “Aren’t you going to congratulate me for finishing off Kimmie?”

“Do it in real life and then I’ll congratulate you,” he grumbled, clearly still sore that he had not been the one to ‘kill Kimmie’.

“Now, Drewbie,” Amy said, sounding scarily like the mad scientist’s mother, “don’t be a sore loser.” She then gave him a stern look.

“Fine,” Drakken huffed, “well done, Shego. But don’t think you’ll beat me at Monopoly so easily.”

She burst out laughing, as did Killigan. “I bet you bankrupt yourself before you manage to get twice around the board! Or have you forgotten how you blew tens of millions of dollars on a new lair and super-weapon, only to blow both up within seconds?”

“The lass is right, Drew. You’ve got aboot as much restraint when it comes tae money, as Monkey Fist’s got wi’ a bunch o’ bananas,” Killigan added.

“I’m afraid you do have a tendency to spend out with your means, Drewbie,” Amy said as she patted Drakken on the shoulder.

“I’ll have you all know,” the mad scientist began, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, “that I’ve been taking money management lessons!”

“Ha, who from, Kimmie’s ex?” Shego exclaimed.

“Absolutely not! That buffoon has no concept of how to handle money,” Drakken bit back.

“Then who?” she asked.

“Señor, Senior,” the mad scientist declared triumphantly.

“Ohh, he’s got ya there, Lass,” Killigan conceded. “Señor Senior, Senior, is a shrewd businessman. I’d wager he’ll have set even Drew here straight about managing money. Unlike that eejit (idiot) son o’ his.”

Drakken looked slightly sheepish for a moment, before saying, “yes, of course. Who else?”

Shego stared at him and saw him begin to sweat. She then burst out laughing. “Please tell me you actually took financial advice from Junior.”

Drakken said nothing as all three of the other villains, plus Ru-Ru stared at him expectantly.

“Ha, you actually did!” she exclaimed, trying to hold back her laughter. “You actually took financial advice from Señor Senior, **Junior**! Perhaps the only person on this planet with less sense when it comes to money than you.”

Everyone, even Amy, burst out laughing when Drakken’s blue face turned red. And the naked-mole-shark began beating his little fists off of the table as he rolled around in a fit of hysterics.

 _Ha, he’s not even going to make it once around the board without bankrupting himself!_ While she did not want to admit it to herself and certainly wouldn’t when inevitably asked by Miss Go about it, Shego was actually having a little fun, made sweeter when it was at Drakken’s expense. _Ok, so maybe this isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. However, this is **not** fun. Doing this purely so I don’t have to deal with Miss Go. Urgh, I’m even referring to that smug asshole by the stupid name now. _

Ru-Ru quickly swept away the Clue board and pieces and replaced it with the Monopoly one. It was time for game number three.

##

**Part three: Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash**

Like Clue, Drakken’s version of Monopoly had been jazzed up too. Instead of $1, the money now started with $1000 bills and went up to a cool half-a-million. The normal player tokens of a car, ship etc, had been replaced with various pieces of villain gear. Shego chose a figurine of a rocket-powered motorbike, Killigan a set of golf clubs, Amy something that looked like an elephant-armadillo, which was rudely kicked onto the Go City square by Ru-Ru and Drakken, surprise surprise, a model death-ray.

She laughed when she looked down and saw that Mediterranean Avenue had been replaced by Drakken’s lair.

“They all ganged up on me when we made this game, ok,” the mad-scientist grumbled, on seeing what she was laughing at.

“Tae be fair, Drew, yer lairs get blown up so often and ye hae so little cash tae buy a new one, that they’re a’ways done on the cheap,” Killigan chuckled. “I mean, even this table has wan leg propped up on a book.”

“He’s right, Drewbie,” Amy added. “We even had to sit on the floor one game night because you hadn’t managed to cobble together the money for furniture yet”

“I told you, all my money was tied up in a very delicate plot to take over the world,” Drakken huffed.

“Yeah and look how that turned out,” Shego said sarcastically.

Ru-Ru, now wearing a small croupier’s hat, laughed evilly, “heh, heh, heh, heh.”

“That’s enough of your sarcasm, Shego,” Drakken said irritably as he picked up the dice. “And I’m definitely going first this time!”

She shot Ru-Ru a sideways look and winked at him. “Sorry, Dr D, but I’m pretty sure that the youngest player gets to go first in this game, which would be moi.”

“You just made that up!” Drakken exclaimed hotly, steam rising from the top of his blue head.

“That soonds just as unfair as Miss Shego a’ways goin’ first in Clue,” Killigan agreed. “Can we no jist dae whit we a’ways do an’ roll the dice?”

“Now, I do recall something like that being the rule when we used to play as kids,” Amy said ponderously, “or was that Trivial Pursuit?” She turned to look at the naked-mole-shark. “Why don’t we get Ru-Ru to check the rules? After all, he is a stickler for them.”

“Uh-hu, uh-hu” Ru-Ru nodded mischievously and winked at Shego. He then scampered over to the box and pulled out the rule leaflet.

“Well, what does it say?” Drakken barked impatiently.

There were a few mumbled squeaks from the naked-mole-shark as its beady eyes scanned the leaflet. He then triumphantly tossed it back into the box, fixed Drakken with a glare, pointed at Shego and said, “dice.”

“I will not!” Drakken bellowed. “It’s not fair! In fact, let me see that.” He reached a hand towards the box, but Ru-Ru started gnashing his teeth and he quickly withdrew it. However, the mad-scientist did not fork over the dice. “No! I’m taking a stand. I’ll not be bullied by a rodent-fish in my own lair.” In a flash, his hand shot out and he pinged the naked-mole-shark across the table.

The creature rolled over backwards and bounced into the monopoly box. 

“Oh, my!” Amy exclaimed. “Ru-Ru, are you ok?”

“Aww come on now, Drew. That wis a lil’ unca’d for,” Killigan said.

“It was not uncalled for,” Drakken retorted. “I’m not getting browbeaten by that feral creature anymore.”

Shego peered into the box and saw the naked-mole-shark lying amidst a pile of money, title deeds, plastic defence systems (houses) and doomsday weapons (hotels). She watched him pick himself up, dust himself down and straighten his little croupier’s hat. A grin formed on her face when she saw the evil spark ignite behind his beady eyes. _Heh, Drakken is so about to regret pinging him._

“Yo, Dr D,” she called out, drawing her boss’ attention, “I think you’ve made him mad.”

“So what?” Drakken scoffed.

Shego pointed at the naked-mole-shark. “If I were you, I’d give me the dice and beg his forgiveness.”

“NEVER!” the mad scientist declared. “I’M GOING FIRST!”

“Charge,” Ru-Ru squeaked as he bounded across the table.

“Oh, Christ, the wee beastie’s gone feral!” Killigan roared and quickly distanced himself from the blue-skinned man.

Drakken turned his gaze to look at the creature. “AHHH!” he screamed as the naked-mole-shark launched himself at him. Leaning too far back in his chair, it tipped over when Ru-Ru barrelled into his chest. The other three villains cringed with each and every yelp that escaped from the mad scientist’s mouth as he futilely tried to swat the lightning-quick naked-mole-shark that was biting him left right and centre. After a couple of minutes of furious scrambling and one final chomp, the man’s right hand opened and Ru-Ru swiped the dice from his palm. The naked-mole-shark then made its way back up onto the table and deposited them into Shego’s waiting palm.

“Good boy,” she said, giving the creature a pat on the head and four cheesy puffs.

Ru-Ru tipped his little croupier’s hat at her and then dived after his snacks.

“Looks like the lass has mare control o’er that wee beastie than you dae, Amy,” Killigan observed.

“He’s very much the lady’s man is Ru-Ru,” Amy replied, “and has a liking for all things cheese or junk food related.”

A now mauled Drakken picked himself up off the floor, straightened his chair and sat back down; all the while grumbling about the injustice of it all and how mad-genetics should be banned or at least strongly regulated.

“So, what have we learned, Dr D?” Shego asked in amusement.

“Never ask you to stay for game day again,” Drakken huffed. “Now roll the dice, Shego.”

She flashed him a smirk as she threw the dice. Rolling eleven, she moved her rocket-powered motorbike to Camp Wannaweep (St Charles Place) and promptly handed Ru-Ru $140,000 for it and received the title deed in return. She then passed the dice to Drakken, “your turn, Dr D.”

The mad-scientist snatched the dice from her, rolled seven and moved to chance; labelled risky venture on this board. Ru-Ru picked up the top card from the pile, let out an evil chuckle as he read it, then passed it to Drakken. The man snatched it from the naked-mole-shark, took one look at it and yelled, “WHAT! KIM POSSIBLE!”

Shego swiped the card from his clenched fist and read, “Kim Possible foils your plan to take over the world. Go to Jail, go directly to jail. Do not pass Go City. Do not collect $200,000.” She burst out laughing as she handed the card back to a still sniggering Ru-Ru. “I guess this game is just like real life, right, Dr D.”

A fuming Drakken picked up his token and reluctantly moved it to the jail space. “Not another word, Shego.”

The game went on for hours and, given that it was being played by a bunch of super-villains, became fiercely competitive. Ru-Ru served as banker, but was far more akin to a mafia loan shark when it came to any money owed to him; snapping his teeth and prising notes out of players (mostly Drakken’s) grasp if they tried to avoid paying him. However, like a loan shark, he was not opposed to giving you an extra turn or two to pay up, so long as you could afford his interest rates and were willing to barter with some cheesy puffs. As expected, Drakken had started off buying up everything he landed on, spreading his portfolio far too thin and almost losing several fingers to the bank of Ru-Ru. Eventually, he was the first to go bankrupt; wiped out by three defence systems on Hench-Co (North Carolina Avenue), owned by Shego.

“We did warn you not to over-extended yourself, Dr D,” she said with a smirk as she scooped up what little cash remained from Drakken’s ‘empire’.

“I didn’t over-extend myself, Shego,” Drakken spat bitterly. “I just made a few slight financial missteps.”

“Aye, ya did that, Drew,” Killigan chipped in. “I believe we also told ya no tae put off paying that $10,000 fine ya owed tae the naked-loan-shark,” the Scotsman let out a hearty laugh, “remind me, hoo much did ya end up hae’in tae pay ‘im in the end?”

Drakken muttered an unintelligible reply under his breath, causing everyone else, even Amy, to laugh at him.

“Hoo’ much?” Killigan poked.

The mad scientist muttered again, albeit slightly louder this time.

Shego sniggered, “sorry, Dr D, we still can’t hear you.”

“Ok, it was $1,000,000, are you happy!” Drakken yelled irately before standing up.

They all burst out laughing.

“I’m going for some cocoa-moo,” the mad scientist huffed irritably and stalked off.

She turned her attention to the naked-loan-shark, who was sitting punching in numbers on a small calculator. “Ok, Ru-Ru, how much is the mortgage on Drakken’s properties going to cost me.”

The naked-loan-shark held up the calculator and pointed to the figure of $500,000.

Shego winced, “ok, how about I just give you the 10% and we leave them as they are, deal?” She held out a $50,000 bill from what remained of Drakken’s stack.

Ru-Ru pointed to the bowl of cheesy puffs, rubbed his stomach and smacked his lips.

She rolled her eyes, “fine. $50,000 and a cheesy puff.”

“Three,” Ru-Ru countered.

She gave him a pointed look and said firmly, “two.”

The naked-loan-shark thought for a moment before nodding his head and taking the bill from her hand. She reached into the now severely depleted bowl of cheesy puffs and placed two on the table.

“I think that little scamp has taken too much of a liking to you, Sweetie,” Amy said with a slight hint of disapproval. “He charged me twice as much when I had to pay that insurance premium.”

“Aye, the wee beastie’s no normally that agreeable,” Killigan added, scowling at the naked-loan-shark. “Jist look wat he did tae ma finger when a widnae pay him that lair rebuild fee.” The Scotsman held up a bandaged finger.

Shego laughed, “I guess I just have a way with genetically spliced ‘Cuddle Buddy’s’.” _Not to mention the ability to burn their mouths if they try and bite me and knowledge of the parent naked-mole-rat's love of all things cheesy._

A few high-octane rounds later and they had reached the endgame. Having converted her defence systems to doomsday weapons on the green properties and bartered away Señor Senior, Senior’s island (Boardwalk) to Amy for Camille Leon’s mansion (New York Avenue), Shego proceeded to erect defence systems on the orange strip. Meanwhile the geneticist bankrupt Killigan; ironically with a doomsday weapon on his own castle. It transpired that under her cuddly nature, was a shrewd businesswoman, which the woman explained was a skill she’d needed to learn in order to restore her beloved Cuddle Buddy collection after the original had been destroyed. A few rounds later, both players had evaded each-others properties and spent the bulk of their remaining cash on more defence systems and doomsday weapons. However, a bad dice roll for Shego cost her $350,000; the last of her money plus the nuclear reactor (electric company).

She grimaced internally, a _nother hit like that and I’m done for,_ as Ru-Ru swiped her remaining notes and deposited them with Amy.

“Good boy,” the geneticist praised and tossed him a singular cheesy puff. She then picked up the dice and rolled.

 _Come on, two, four or five… bastard_ ; the woman had rolled an eight. She watched as Amy moved her token to the risky venture square and the naked-loan-shark picked up the card. Meanwhile, Drakken had returned with his cocoa-moo.

Ru-Ru read it and then rolled over; laughing evilly to himself.

“Oh dear,” Amy said in alarm as Drakken reached out and picked up the card.

“HA! KIM POSSIBLE” he yelled with glee for the first time ever.

“What is Kimmie sending her to jail?” Shego asked in annoyance, considering that to be a very good thing at this stage of the game.

“No, worse,” Drakken declared and then read from the card, “Kim Possible destroys your lair. Make repairs to all of your defence systems - $25,000 each and doomsday weapons - $100,000 each!”

Ru-Ru, who had managed to stop laughing, picked himself up and fetched his calculator. He then walked around the board and added up the total sum of all of Amy’s defence systems and doomsday weapons. He then showed it to his creator and held out his paw expectantly.

“OH MY!” Amy exclaimed on seeing the figure.

Sensing an opportunity, Shego plucked the remaining cheesy puffs out of the bowl, before the thought of using them to bribe the naked-loan-shark crossed her opponent's mind.

Amy counted up her money and then said, “Ru-Ru, sweetums, would you give mommy an extra turn or two to pay you?”

The naked-loan-shark looked at the bowl of cheesy puffs and pointed at it expectantly. Because it was made of red plastic, he could not see that it was now empty.

The geneticist grudgingly sighed and said, “ok, how many?”

Ru-Ru gave the woman a sly smirk, “six.”

“Six!” Amy exclaimed, “Ru-Ru, you little scamp, that’s daylight robbery. I’ll give you two.”

The naked-loan-shark shook his head, “ut-uh, five.”

“Don’t you get cheeky with me, young man,” Amy replied, hands on her hips. “You can have three.”

“Four!” Ru-Ru retorted, mimicking his owner’s gesture.

Killigan laughed, “the wee beastie drives a hard bargain.”

“Has anyone else actually gotten to eat one of those or has that little beast extorted the lot out of us?” Drakken asked.

It was a fair point. While everyone had actually eaten some of the cheesy puffs, Ru-Ru had probably extracted more than half the bowl in fees and bribes.

“Ok, fine,” Amy finally said bitterly. She put her hand in the bowl and gulped on finding it empty.

“Hey, Ru-Ru,” Shego said with a smirk as she tossed the last of the cheesy puffs around her palm, “I’ll give you these last four cheesy puffs if you make her pay up now.”

“Why you big meanie!” Amy exclaimed, her eyes locking onto the cheesy puffs she desperately needed in Shego’s hand

The naked-loan-shark’s beady eyes too locked onto the snacks in her hand. “Ha-ha, Sold!” he squeaked. Bounding forward, he snatched Amy’s stack of notes, quickly counted out her debt and ran off with it to his bank. He then turned to look at Shego expectantly.

“I think I like you,” she said as she deposited the cheesy puffs on the table and gave his head a quick rub. Shego then picked up the dice, rolled and moved her token onto free parking. “Your roll, Amy.”

The geneticist picked up the dice, blew on them for luck, then started shaking them in her hand.

 _Come on, this time be good. Nine, ten or…_ “yippie-ki-ya motherfucker!” she yelled as she did a fist pump; the dice having landed on twelve.

Amy looked like she was going to cry, as Ru-Ru helpfully moved her token around the board and deposited it on Professor Dementor’s Bavarian Lair (Pennsylvania Avenue).

“That’s 1.4 million you owe me that you don’t have, Amy,” Shego declared triumphantly. _Damn, who knew beating this lot at their own games would be so satisfying._ She growled at herself. _I’m not having fun! This is purely a means to avoid putting up with little Miss Go!_

Ru-Ru knocked over Amy’s elephant-armadillo token, pointed at Shego and declared gleefully, “winner!”

“Aye, aye, we ken that,” Killigan then said. “But these are jist’ kiddie games. The lass’ll no fair sae well when we get the cairds oot and play a proper man’s game.”

“Oh yeah,” Shego shot back, “like what?”

“A wee game called poker, Lass,” the Scotsman replied with a smile.

 _Now we’re talking._ However, she decided to feign ignorance. “Oh, I’ve never played that before. You’ll have to teach me how to play,” she said sweetly.

“Yes, well we can do that after we’ve ordered Pizza, I’m starving,” Drakken declared irritably.

 _God, he gets shirty when he’s hungry and on a losing streak._ “Sure thing, Dr D,” she said sarcastically, “only one problem. How do you expect a pizza parlour to deliver here?”

“Leave that to me, Shego,” the mad-scientist replied as he rubbed his hands together.

 _Urgh, why do I get the feeling he’s got some crackpot scheme all drawn up to try and get Pizza delivered?_ She stood up and left the table, wandering into the kitchenette. Opening the fridge, she rooted around inside it, past all of Drakken’s bottles of cocoa-moo and withdrew a bottle of beer. She sliced the top off with a lit finger and took a drink. _Ok, so far, I’ve been flattened by a bunch of heavy villains at Twister, won games of Clue and Monopoly and befriended a naked-mole-shark. Can this day get any weirder?_ She let out a light laugh. _And I bet I’m still having a better day than Kimmie is with her mom._ The thought passed through her mind before she could stop it and she growled internally, _screw Princess._ However, she could not quell the desire that she would have sincerely have liked to. Sensing the danger signs, she quickly walked back over to the table of ‘lunatics’, one last thought crossing her mind before she descended back into Crazyville, _maybe I should just have tried the mass amount of alcohol route again._ She still had a long night ahead of her.


	21. Dragons and fables

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, chapter five of six. Not much to say about this one either, other than the title, Dragons and fables, is a track by Hawkwind, from their Earth Ritual EP and later their Chronicle of the black sword live show. The reason for this title will become apparent once you have read the chapter. So, enjoy.

Kim flopped back amidst the fresh sheets of her old bed. It had been a very long day and the energy she had been exuding that morning was now well and truly spent. With no adrenaline or alcohol in her system and the codeine from the morning having worn off by lunchtime, she had slowly started to feel a heavy discomfort set in, as one by one, her injuries started to ache. The toll, despite how much she had tried to hide it, had not gone unnoticed by her mother. Initially, she’d tried to fob it off and refused the offer of the singular codeine. However, a polite reminder of the house’s intruder disabling devices and that the drugs also came in hypodermic form, had convinced her to see the error in her judgement. That had occurred early evening.

Her dad had arrived home from the lab and the whole family had sat down to dinner together for the first time in well over a month. They’d all taken their turn to talk about their recent activities and it been a rather relaxed affair. She’d even had the Tweebs captivated when giving an account of chasing the man claiming to be **thee** Grigori Rasputin over the rooftops of St Petersburg. However, when asked for a blow by blow account of yesterday’s fight with Shego, she’d tried to dissuade her brothers by saying that it wasn’t anything special. When they’d pushed her on the matter, her mom, who had been carefully studying her, came to her rescue by telling them that they’d seen more than enough of it over the course of HeroTV’s three-hour dissection. She’d given her mom a thankful smile, but received a look in return that said, _“I’ll be asking you later about that one.”_

Kim’s mind had been in turmoil throughout the remainder of dinner; frantically screening their conversation from earlier in the day for anything that might have hinted at the train wreck that her recent engagements with the villainess had become. It was only when back in the living room, with a large bowl of rocky-road ice-cream, that her brain had been dragged back into the conversation by her dad and his talk about a conversation he’d recently had with the Dean of M.I.S.T. Apparently, the man had been keen to know what her dad’s brilliant young daughter was up to, had then been shocked to learn that she was not at college and then said that M.I.S.T. would welcome her with open arms, should she wish to attend in the forthcoming academic year. Kim had rolled her eyes at that point and quickly shot the idea and the subject as a whole down with a firm statement that she was happy with her life choices and had no desire to go to **any** college, period. After that, they’d sat and watched a film before bed.

Kim stared up at the ceiling and winced when a slight movement of her torso caused her ribs to hurt. The codeine having worn off over an hour ago. _Fuck I hurt. I guess there’ll be no missions for me for the next few days… assuming mom doesn’t keep the house on lockdown until she decides I’m fully healed._ She shuddered at the thought of how stir-crazy she would go if she were to be stuck inside her parents’ house with the Tweebs for any length of time.

From downstairs, she heard the sound of footsteps on the wooden steps that led up to her old bedroom. She craned her neck to look at the rectangular hole in the floor and soon saw the red hair that told her it was her mom. “Hey, mom,” she said as she stiffly sat up, wincing as another stab of pain shot through her ribs.

“Sorry to bother you, Kimmie, but I thought you might like a mug of cocoa,” her mom said as she walked over to the nightstand and set down a steaming mug.

“Thanks,” she replied, having to stifle another grimace. Her eyes then caught sight of the small glass of water in her mom’s other hand. “You’re also here to check me over and make me take more painkillers, aren’t you?”

“I did warn you that I wanted you to stay so that I could keep an eye on you,” her mom replied and placed the glass down beside the mug of cocoa. She then went over to the desk and fetched the bag containing her medical supplies. Withdrawing the thermometer, she then said, “hold still, Kimmie.”

Kim rolled her eyes but did as she was told. She felt the plastic device slide into her ear and listened to it give off a high-pitched beep before it was withdrawn.

“While you still have a slight fever, your temperature has come down, Honey. I think the antibiotics are working.”

“Does that mean I get to go home tomorrow?” Kim asked, feeling like she was stuck in hospital.

“It means I won’t be calling Monique to cancel your night out tomorrow,” her mom replied firmly.

After telling her about their plans to go out to Heartbeats tomorrow night, her mom had told Kim that she wouldn’t be going anywhere other than the hospital if there was no sign that the antibiotics were working come morning. Needless to say, both her car and door keys had been confiscated; along with the Kimmunicator. _Why do I have a suspicion that had I not emphasised the search for a boyfriend part, that mom would have put the kybosh on tomorrow night, regardless of my condition come morning? Does she think that I might eventually decide to settle down if I meet someone that I like?_

She did not get the chance to ask, as her mom then produced her stethoscope and indicated for her to sit forward. The bell of the medical implement felt cold against her warm skin.

“Ok, Kimmie, breathe in for me…”

She took in as deep a breath as she could, tried to hold it, but wound up taking a mild coughing fit. Her ribs shooting her with stabs of pain with each and every one. _Ok, note to self, don’t try to hold onto that much air._ Once she had stopped, she tried again with a smaller breath and made it through the rest of the examination without coughing again.

“Your lungs sound slightly weaker than they did earlier, but that’s to be expected, as the antibiotics will have gone after the infection in your leg first,” her mom said. “However, I’ll be checking again in the morning. Now, roll over for me.”

“Why?” Kim asked, having a bad feeling about what was going to happen.

“Because you’re getting another dose of antibiotics now.”

She let out a deflated moan, but under a stern look from her mom, rolled over and slipped down her pyjama trousers.

The sound of the hypodermic being unpackaged filled her ears, before her mom then said, “just hold still, Kimmie.”

Like with the first one that afternoon, her body involuntarily tensed before the needle had even pierced her flesh. “Oww,” she cried out, a testament to how tired and sore she felt, as this one punctured her left glute and her eyes screwed up. She felt a cold sensation that lasted far too long spread through the left half of her backside.

“Sorry, Kimmie,” her mom apologised when she finally removed the hypodermic. “Unfortunately, you’ll be getting another one in the morning after breakfast.”

“You kept that fact quiet this afternoon,” Kim grumbled as she pulled up her trousers.

“If I hadn’t, I would have needed to lock down the house there and then as you would have bolted at the first opportunity.”

She opened her mouth to say that she wouldn’t have, but her mom caught her gaze and dared her to utter the rebuttal. Instead, she said, “I really am ok, honest.”

This was met with just as much disdain as if she had said she wouldn’t have run away. “Kim, you might be able to pull the wool over your father’s eyes, but I’ve been watching you wincing all night. I know you’re not ok, even if you don’t.” Her mom then held out two small round tablets. “These will help.”

“Not more codeine,” she moaned. “One of those is bad enough, two will make me loopy.”

“Then it’s a good thing you’re going to bed then, isn’t it?” Her mom then picked up the glass of water and fixed an expression on her face that said, _“take them or I’ll get another hypodermic out.”_

Grudgingly, she sat up, took the two pills and swallowed them with a mouthful of water. “Happy?” she asked, opening her mouth wide and sticking out her tongue to prove that she had indeed swallowed them.

“I’ll be happy…”

“When my daughter starts taking her health seriously,” Kim said in unison with her mom. She let out a laugh but received a look that said it had not been amusing.

However, instead of chastising her, the woman sat down on the end of the bed. “So, what’s going on between you and Shego?”

The question caught her off-guard as an image of the green-skinned woman danced through her mind. “What makes you think something is going on between us?” _Nice one, Possible. You might as well have just told her that something’s going on between the two of you._

Inside her head, the Barkin-dragon barked, _“there’s nothing going on between you and Shego. Now, just stay calm and I’ll have that distraction back in her box in no time. And remember, you like boys.”_

_I like boys…_

“Kim,” her mom said with a pointed look, “how many battles have you had with her?”

She shrugged her shoulders, “I’ve no idea. Try a lot.”

“Exactly,” her mom replied, “and I can count on one hand how many of those you don’t like talking about and on the other, how many of them went on for almost an hour. So, what’s happened this time?”

She took as deep a breath as she dared, lest she start to cough again. _Ok, Kim, you need to lie and you need to lie well._ “She’s upped her game recently and I can’t defeat her as easily as before. I guess with Drakken being unable to take over the world every few days, she’s had plenty of time to train.” _Ok, that sounds plausible and at least covers half of her observations without revealing any of the truth._ She gazed at her mom’s face to see how it had gone down but knew she needed to cover the woman’s other observation too. “I also don’t like talking about the ones where she saved my life. It both confuses me and reminds me that…”

“…That you’d be dead otherwise,” her mom finished for her. “Maybe you need to be reminded about that sometimes, Kim.”

 _Great, so at best that’s her way of saying I need to be more careful and at worst that I should quit while I’m still alive and in one piece. Careful, maybe. Quit? Sorry, Mom, but no dice. I love what I do far too much to let one near-miss deter me._ However, she did not say this out loud. Instead, she simply said, “I’ll be more careful in future, promise.”

Her mom, seemingly satisfied with her response, leaned in to give her a hug. “Goodnight, Kimmie-cub.”

“Goodnight, Mom,” she replied as they embraced.

“Now, drink that coco then go to sleep, doctor’s orders,” her mom said as they separated.

“I will.”

Kim watched as her mom disappeared down the stairs. She did as instructed and drank the mug of cocoa. By the time she had finished, the room had a slight rosy tinge to its edges. Lying back amidst the sheets she closed her eyes. Unfortunately, the brief conversation with her mom had put a certain green-skinned woman front and centre of her mind again. Or at least as front and centre as one could be when being chased around by a fire breathing dragon that resembled your old school teacher. With all the skill and grace of the real thing, Shego danced around and dodged the attacks of the lumbering creature that hounded her.

 _“What’s the problem, Stevie boy? Barkin worse than your bite,”_ Shego laughed as she expertly evaded a lunge from the dragon’s head.

Kim settled down to watch. _This is so the drugs at work,_ she giggled. _Damn, they hit me fast tonight. Perhaps they stacked with the antibiotics? Heh, heh, heh, look out Stevie boy!_

The Barkin-dragon, who had failed in a second lunge, could do nothing as Shego landed on his head and slammed it into the ground. The creature roared and snapped its head around with a vicious bite, but ate nothing except air, as its target had already jumped well clear.

 _“She likes boys, Wench!”_ the Barkin-dragon barked as it spewed a mouthful of flame after the green-skinned woman.

 _Yeah, you tell her Mr B,_ Kim said internally.

 _“Hate to break it to you, Stevie-boy, but Kimmie much prefers the fairer sex,”_ Shego replied.

_Do not!_

The Barkin-dragon lashed out with its tail and swatted Shego out of the air. _“She likes boys!”_

The green-skinned woman hit the ground hard and grunted, _“son of a…”_

The creature advanced, reared up on its hind legs and drove its head downwards.

 _Look out, Mr B,_ Kim yelled, but either it did not hear her or the fight was going on independently from the part of her brain that was her; like she was watching a movie.

Shego backflipped off the ground and caught the Barkin-dragon in the snout with a vicious twin-footed kick. It roared in pain as it was sent hurtling through the air and crashed down on the ground in a heap. The woman then looked Kim directly in the eye and gave her a sassy smirk as she stretched off. _“Want me to change into something more comfortable, Princess?”_

_Yes, please!_

Instantaneously, Shego’s catsuit melted away in a sea of green flames and left the woman in her bathing suit. Kim’s eyes almost popped out of her head as she stared at those long supple legs, smooth midriff and voluptuous breasts. _“Now, why don’t you give that mean ‘ol Mr B the boot and we can get down to business.”_

_Um…_

_“She likes boys!”_ the Barkin-dragon roared as it thundered at Shego, flames spewing from its mouth.

The green-skinned woman had to throw herself to the dirt and roll to avoid being turned into BBQ.

Kim shook her head. _I like boys, I like boys…_

 _“Urgh, little help, Kimmie?”_ Shego yelled as she had to roll again in order to evade being eviscerated by a claw.

 _“You like boys,”_ the Barkin-dragon boomed again, louder this time.

She closed her eyes. _I like boys, I like boys…_

 _“ARGH!”_ Shego screamed as she failed to move quickly enough and a second claw attack tore through the skin on her left shoulder blade; leaving three bloody lines in its wake. _“Kim…mie… help…”_

Though she’d closed her eyes, Kim still saw everything that was happening in front of her. The Barkin-dragon reached out with one clawed appendage, seized the green-skinned woman and hoisted her up off the ground. _“She likes boys,”_ it barked yet again.

The words echoed around Kim’s brain like a heavy drumbeat. _I like boys, I like boys…_

 _“Don’t… listen… to… him… Kimmie…”_ Shego said through loud, painful winces. _“You… don’t… have… to… ARGH!”_

 _Shego!_ Kim yelled, but before she could do anything, found herself face to snout with the Barkin-dragon.

 _“You like boys, Possible. End of discussion,”_ the creature barked.

The words rooted her to the spot. _I like boys, I like boys, I like boys._

 _“Now then. I’d best be getting this trouble maker out of here,”_ the Barkin-dragon said as the chest it had been guarding earlier in the day magically popped into existence. The locks clicked and the lid sprang open.

 _“Kimmie,”_ Shego then gasped as she was held over the chest. _“It’s ok for you to like girls!”_

THUD! The green-skinned woman was shoved inside with such ferocity by the Barkin-dragon that she would be lucky to have any bones left intact. The lid slammed shut and all the locks clicked back into place. _“Villains, you can’t trust them to not try and mess things up.”_

Kim could only nod robotically as she watched the Barkin-dragon coil itself around the chest.

_“Remember, Possible, boys kiss girls. End of discussion,” the creature said as its eyes closed._

_Boys kiss girls,_ she repeated… _boys kiss girls… and I like boys._

This time when Kim’s eyes closed, she saw nothing but a sea of black. She was asleep within minutes. And when she next awoke, she would likely only remember one thing from the whole drug-induced hallucination, or whatever it had been; _I like boys._


	22. The ace of spades

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, we finally made it, chapter six of six. I hope you're all still with me. The title of this one finishes our little set from Shego's chapters by using the actual track name: Ace of spades. Anyway, enjoy and I'll see you at an end for a round up of what the hell's just happened across these six chapters.

It was late, although not that you could tell that from inside the main chamber of Dr Drakken’s lair. Windows were an excess expense that the super-villain often chose to eschew when building his lairs these days, given that they were, as Duff Killigan had so finely put it earlier that evening, ‘constructed on the cheap’. Gathered around a large rectangular table, the two men in question were sat with usual stalwart of their gaming days, DNAmy and the late in the day replacement for Professor Dementor; Shego.

Shego swirled the glass in her hand as she stared into the eyes of the Scotsman sat opposite her. After Drakken had, against all conceivable odds and reason, used a remote-controlled drone to order and collect Pizza from a parlour in Middleton, they’d all eaten and then settled down to play Texas hold ‘em. Killigan had ‘taught’ her the rules, but after she had made some significant winnings, he, along with the others, had cottoned onto the fact that she was well versed in the game. Ru-Ru, the naked-mole-shark, had rolled over laughing when the golfer finally made the deduction. Apparently, she’d fooled everyone but him with the lie she’d told at the end of Monopoly.

Absentmindedly, Shego reached into the bowl of peanuts and fed one to the rodent-fish. The creature had donned its little croupier’s hat again and was serving as the dealer, chip broker and peanut eater. Much to his creator’s heartache, he’d elected to make his perch beside the green-skinned woman; who had actually become rather fond of him. Though not that she was going to admit that to anyone. “What are you going to do, Duffy?” she asked with a heap of sass in her tone.

“I’ll see yer hundred and raise ye another five,” Killigan said and tossed the chips onto the pile in the centre of the table.

Like all the other games it had been fiercely competitive. The two scientists having the advantage of being able to calculate all the combination odds in their heads, but also being the worst bluffers at the table. The net result had been that Shego wiped Drakken out with a measly two-pair, while Killigan got his revenge on Amy for her bankrupting him during Monopoly. On doing so, the Scotsman had produced a bottle of single-malt whisky and she had happily taken him up on the offer of a ‘wee dram or two’. That had been an hour ago. Now the once full bottle sat with only a few measures left in it.

Shego took a sip of the rather fine scotch as she locked eyes with her opponent. “I’ll see your five hundred.” She tossed the chips onto the pile. _Now we’ll see if your bluffing or not,_ the pot having just reached that point where you could still fold without suffering too big a loss, but putting any more in would compel you to go all the way.

“I’ll call ye on that, Lass,” Killigan said. “Ladies first.”

The man’s decision to check instead of raise told Shego what she needed to know and she flashed him a wicked smile, _you are so bluffing, Duffy._ “Three tens,” she said as she placed her cards face-up on the table.

“Ach, I dinnae believe it!” the Scotsman exclaimed as he threw his cards down. “I wis sure ye were bluffing, Lass.”

“’Fraid not, Duffy.” She drank the last of her scotch, then started collecting her chips.

Beside her, Ru-Ru clapped, before scampering around the table to collect the cards. When he returned, Shego tossed him another couple of peanuts.

“Stop stuffin’ yer face ye wee beastie and get the cairds dealt!” Killigan boomed, he reached for the bottle of scotch, but she beat him to it.

“At-at-ah,” Shego admonished and waggled a finger at him, “the winner gets first dibs.” She poured herself a decent measure before handing the bottle over.

On either side of them, Drakken and Amy were sitting with glasses of cocoa-moo and watching the dual intently.

Ru-Ru finished his peanuts, picked up the deck of cards and dealt them each two face down.

Shego took one peek at hers; the seven of spades and the ace of clubs and left them on the table. She then picked up chips totalling one-hundred and sat them in the centre of the table. “I’ll start you off nice and small this time, Duffy. One-hundred.”

Killigan looked at his cards, his expression giving nothing away. It seemed that golf was not the only thing the Scotsman was good at; he excelled at poker. “I’ll see that, Lass, and raise ye two.” He placed the chips in the pot.

Without hesitating, Shego matched the man’s two-hundred and added another three-hundred of her own.

Killigan took a moment or two to think, something she knew meant nothing, before matching her bet.

The naked-mole-shark then promptly dealt three cards face-up on the table; the ace of hearts, seven of clubs and the three of diamonds.

 _Not bad at all, Ru-Ru. Two pair; aces over sevens from just the flop. One more of either and I’m taking Killigan to the cleaners._ She sipped her whisky as she waited for her opponent to make the first move, eyes narrowing when the Scotsman eventually opened the betting with a cool one-thousand. _My, my, Duffy, someone’s feeling confident or is risking an awful lot on a bluff, just to gain a few beans._ She feigned contemplation for a few moments before matching his bet and adding a further two-thousand. The man responded quickly by equalling her two and adding another one. Keeping her gaze locked straight ahead, she was just able to see the cards on the table as she worked out the possibilities. _He can’t have anything better than me at the moment unless he has a pocket pair, but it’s just as likely he’s waiting for something. A straight perhaps? Only one way to find out._ She matched his bet and signalled Ru-Ru to draw the turn card.

The naked-mole-shark buried the top card from the deck, picked up the second and placed it down neatly beside the others. It was the nine of hearts.

 _Ok, Ru-Ru, not your best draw,_ however, she gave him a peanut nonetheless. A possible indication to her opponent that the creature had just dealt her something useful. She then opened the bidding with one thousand.

“Yer playing wi' fire here, Lass,” Killigan boomed as he matched her thousand, then added five of his own.

She laughed and ignited a single finger. “It’s a good thing I don’t burn then…” She flicked the tiny ball of plasma towards her opponent. Killigan did not flinch as it caught his beard and singed a few hairs before fading completely, “…unlike some people.” _That nine of hearts can’t have helped with any possible straight he was looking for after the flop. Is he sitting with pocket nines?_ She matched his five-thousand and then hit back with another five of her own. _Not going to let you force me off the pot that easily._

Killigan laughed, “ha, the lass has more ba’s (balls) than you, Drew. Maybe you shid be her sidekick.”

“What!” Drakken declared in outrage, “Shego? Tell me what to do? NEVER!” He slammed his glass of cocoa-moo on the table as though to emphasise his point.

“Keep your pants on, Dr D,” Shego admonished offhandedly, never taking her eyes off of Killigan, “I don’t want your job, I’m happy with my own.” It was a lie, Kimmie had proved that to her recently, but she was not going to admit that out loud. Besides, she had a poker game to win.

Drakken grumbled something but she completely blanked him. In front of her, Killigan matched her wager and indicated for the naked-mole-shark to draw the river card. The creature dutifully did so and Shego smiled internally, _thanking you, Ru-Ru._ The river was the ace of diamonds; giving her a full house. _So, a flush is out as is any possible straight. And even pocket nines won’t beat what I’m holding. I’m virtually golden!_ However, she elected to start conservative before seriously testing the Scotsman’s resolve. “One- thousand,” she said and slid the chips across the table.”

“HA!” Killigan exclaimed. “One-thousand, Lass. What is this, the wee kiddies table?” The man then drank the last of his whisky, “am goin’ a’ in,” before shoving his entire stack into the centre of the table. “Care tae match me?”

 _Oh, I’ll match you, Duffy. The question is, will you match me._ “That bottle of malt,” Shego said and gave the man a sly smirk, “do you have another one with you?”

Killigan frowned, “aye, Lassie, ah do. But whit o’ it?”

“I’ll see your chips,” she shoved her whole stack into the pot,” and raise you your other bottle of whisky.”

Amy gasped as she looked between the two of them, “oh my! A real wager.”

“So, yer after me malt are ye?” Killigan said rhetorically. He scratched his beard for a moment. “A’right, Lass. I’ll wager ma bottle. However, it’s gonnae cost ye.”

“Name your price,” Shego said smoothly.

The Scotsman gave her a sly grin, “a date wi’ you.”

There was a heartbeat of deathly silence before everyone else in the room reacted in their own unique way. Ru-Ru’s jaw hit the table and his beady eyes popped out of their sockets. Amy clapped her hands over her mouth. Dr Drakken spat out a mouthful of his cocoa-moo and stared wide-eyed at Killigan as though he were insane. And Shego… Shego laughed.

“Seriously? You think a bottle of single-malt whisky, albeit a very good one, is worth a date with me?”

“Aye, Lass, ah do,” Killigan said without any hint that he was jesting. “But if yer so sure yer gonnae win, it disnae matter. Or are ye faird o’ takin’ me on.”

She was certainly not afraid of taking Killigan on in battle or in a hand of poker. However, _should I feel insulted that he thinks that a bottle of scotch is actually worth a date with me? Then again, the Scots love their whisky almost as much as the Russians do vodka._ In the end, she decided it didn’t matter. She’d be taking his whisky from him and would lose nothing she cared about. “Fine, you’re on. What have you got?”

“Lassies first,” Killigan retorted smoothly.

“If you insist,” she flipped her cards face up, “read ‘em and weep, full house; aces over sevens!”

Killigan let out a deflated sigh, “aye, well done, Lass.” He then turned over his first card to reveal the nine of diamonds. “But nines are better than sevens.” He then flashed her a broad grin.

Shego looked at the nine he had just revealed and her eyes darted to his face down card. _OH SHIT, NO. IT CAN’T BE!_

Killigan turned his second card over to reveal the ace of spades. “Full house, Lass. Aces o'er nines.”

Her mouth fell open, “I thought you were bluffing!”

“A Scotsman never bluffs when his whisky is on the line. Ye’d dae well tae remember that, Lassie.”

Before she had a chance to respond, Dr Drakken declared through a fit of hysterics, “ha! You have to go on a date with Killigan, Shego!” his voice suggesting that this turn of events more than made up for his collective losses at every game that day.

“No way!” Shego exclaimed as she got to her feet, “absolutely not!”

“Are ye seriously aboot tae back oot o’ a bet, Lassie?” Killigan said smugly. “An a’ thought you had mair gall than him,” he continued, pointing at Drakken. “But I guess the pair o’ ye are jist twa wee peas in a pod.”

Shego clenched her fists and struggled to keep them from erupting in green plasma. True, she was a villain and didn’t care what other people thought of her, but she lived for a challenge. Killigan had thrown the gauntlet down, she’d picked it up… and lost. Her pride would not allow her to back down. “Fine,” she spat through gritted teeth, “I’ll go on **one** stupid date with you.”

“That’s smashing, Lass. I’m no flying oot ‘till Monday, so we can gae oot the morin’s night.”

She rolled her eyes and had to resist the urge to punch Drakken, who was now doubled over in his continued hysteria. “Fine, you get to take me out for **one** drink, that’s it. And if you even think about touching any part of me, I’ll burn you to a crisp.”

“Now, now, Shego. Don’t be a sore loser,” Drakken said as he straightened up and wiped a tear from his eyes; an expression of glee plastered over his blue face. “I think Duff gets to decide where he takes you.”

Killigan looked completely unphased by her threat. “Aye, that a do, Drew. So, I’ll be takin ye oot tae dinner somewhere in yer Middletoon, Lass.”

She ground her teeth to the point that they almost turned to dust. While there was no hard and fast rule governing this sort of wager, the fact of the matter was she’d been so convinced that she would win, that she had not bothered to stipulate what a date would entail and so as the winner, Killigan had the right to call the shots. “Fine. You can buy me dinner at a **nice** Italian restaurant tomorrow night. And it’s called Middleton.”

“Aye, that’s wit a said, Middletoon,” Killigan replied. “But Italian food is fine wit' me. So, I’ll pick you up tomorrow at seven.”

“No,” Shego said in a tone colder than absolute zero. _I draw the line at **anyone** coming to my house. _“Pick the restaurant and I’ll meet you there.”

The expression on her face must have conveyed how serious she was about this point as Ru-Ru squeaked, “yikes!” and scampered off to hide behind the bowl of peanuts.

This time Killigan did back down, “a’right, Lass, dinnae get yer knickers in a knot. There’s a wee place ca’d Antonio’s, if a remember correctly.”

He did and Shego knew it was the most expensive Italian restaurant in the tri-city area, however, in her considered opinion, it was also the best. It seemed the Scotsman at least had good taste. However, “good luck getting a table at this short notice,” she replied.

“Jist leave that tae me, Lassie, and I’ll see ye there at seven-thirty.”

“Fine, seven-thirty it is.”

“Oh, how romantic,” Amy then exclaimed as she joined her hands together under her chin and let out a dreamy sigh.

Drakken, on the other hand, chose to be even more childish, “Shego and Killigan sitting in a tr…”

She snapped. Without even looking at him, Shego ignited her fists and sent a stream of plasma balls at the mad scientist.

“…EEEEE!” Drakken yelled as he ran for it.

“Well, it’s been a fun night but a bes’ be off,” Killigan then said as he got to his feet. “And I'll be seeing you the ‘morin, Lass.”

“Me too,” Amy agreed and followed suit. “Come on, Ru-Ru. It’s well past beddy-bye time for you.”

The naked-mole-shark reappeared from behind the bowl of peanuts. “Yuck!” he spat and trudged off towards his owner.

“Now, Ru-Ru, we’ve talked about this. If you don’t get to bed at a reasonable time, you get cranky in the morning.”

_Somehow, I get the feeling that ‘beddy-bye’ time involves more than him just going to sleep._

Ru-Ru glanced over his shoulder at her, raised a little paw and uttered, “bye-bye,” in what sounded to her like a longing tone.

 _Heh, guess the little ‘beastie’ took a liking to me._ She watched as the naked-mole-shark hopped into Amy’s bag, but did not see the flicker in his beady little eyes as he did. _I suppose I’d better head too. If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll be too tired by the time I get home for a face-off with little Miss Go._ “Yo, Dr D,” she said, her tone soft enough for Drakken to poke his head out from behind a stack of crates, “I’m going home.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Amy and Killigan depart, just before…

“What!” Drakken yelled, his tone containing a hint of venom. “And leave me to clean up this mess! I think not, Shego.”

“Sorry, Dr D, but it’s still the weekend and my contract states that I don’t work weekends unless it’s for a **pre-agreed** evil scheme **and** that I get paid double time.”

“What!” Drakken exclaimed in outrage, “I don’t recall agreeing to that!”

“Yeah, well you did,” Shego replied, “and if you’ve got a problem with it, talk to my union rep. I’m sure she’ll be delighted to be woken up at midnight by her least favourite villain.”

The mad scientist clenched his fists at his sides. “Fine, go home, see if I care.”

She watched Drakken stalk off and heard him mutter something about leaving the mess until Monday, but she didn’t care. Either she’d make the henchmen do it or remind him that if she had to clean, there would be no one out stealing components for his latest evil scheme. Sauntering over to the sofa, she picked up her biker jacket and helmet, then left the main chamber; completely failing to notice the light weight increase.

 _Well, that was a complete and utter waste of a day and now I’m stuck going out on a date with Duff Killigan of all people. URGH! How do I get myself into these situations?_ She trudged down to the hanger, released the security systems on the Blackbird, donned her jacket and helmet, then hopped on the bike. _Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll crash on the way home and put myself in a coma for a couple of weeks._ She revved the bike's engine and guided it to the cargo elevator. _Urgh, I so need a vacation._

_##_

Shego sat her keys and helmet on the table beside the door and headed into the living room. For the second night running, her glow had burnt the alcohol from her system and so she was completely sober; thus at the potential mercy of…

 _“Well, that went well. Did you have fun?”_ Miss go asked without a hint of sarcasm.

 _Will you just go away? It’s late, I’ve had to put up with three mad super-villains and a feral naked-mole-shark all day and I would just like to have a nice, quiet drink before I go to bed._ She entered the living room and headed straight for her liquor cabinet. _Is that too much to ask?_

_“You tell me. It’s your head. The only reason I show up is because something’s bothering you…”_

_Somethings bothering me alright._ Shego opened the cabinet and withdrew a bottle of single-malt whisky and a glass. Crossing the room, she set the bottle and the glass down on the coffee table, removed her jacket and tossed it onto the sofa and sat down. She even managed to pour a drink and get comfortable before…

 _“So, did you have fun?”_ Miss Go asked again, seemingly not willing to be deterred.

 _No way! I had to put up with Drakken, DNAmy and Duff Killigan all day. What part of that could possibly be construed as fun?_ She swirled the contents of her glass around before taking a sniff, detecting hints of spice, treacle toffee and sherry oak; she knew her malts.

 _“Geez, I don’t know,”_ Miss Go said as she rolled her eyes, _“maybe the part where you got to beat the three of them at both Clue and Monopoly?”_

_I only stayed to play those stupid games because it was the lesser of two evils…_

_Miss go quickly cut in, “I thought you were supposed to all be about evil…”_

_It’s a damn figure of speech,_ Shego bit back. She took a sip of the malt, rolled it around her tongue, then felt the burn as she swallowed it. **_Anyway_** _, the point is, didn’t have fun, only stayed to avoid you banging on about Kimmie all day._

_“Oh, but Drakken’s face when you bankrupted him at Monopoly and then wiped him out at poker…”_

A grin spread across her face at the memory of the mad scientist having a meltdown as she took his money and chips; he’d almost started crying. Shego rolled her eyes and sighed, _ok, fine, so it was amusing to see Drakken break down like that over a silly game._ She let out a light chuckle at the memory of Killigan’s cry of despair when she beat him to the murder room at Clue. _Damn, I must be tired if I’m agreeing with you that easily._

_“It’s been known to happen. So, speaking of Duff Killigan…”_

_URGH, don’t remind me._

_“Sorry, but someone has to. What do you intend to do about it?”_

She had to finish her first glass of whisky and pour a second before she was even willing to entertain that subject. _I’ll just have to go and put up with him. It’s only dinner. I survived a whole day with him, Amy **and** Drakken, I can handle Killigan on his own for two hours._

_“That’s the spirit. After all, it is only one date.”_

Shego listened to Miss Go’s words and searched them for any hint of deeper meaning, but found none. _Hang on a minute, aren’t you supposed to tell me that I shouldn’t go. That I’m a villain and I should just screw the fact I made a bet and lost?_

_“You’d like to think so, but I guess your sense of pride is too strong for even you to argue with yourself over.”_

She rolled her eyes again. _The one time I want that smug asshole to argue with me and she folds without even a hint of a fight. Fine, guess I’m stuck going on **one** stupid date with Duff Killigan. _She bated the question to see if Miss Go was going to dare suggest she should be open to the possibility of it being more than one.

_“What, waiting for me to say you should go on a second date with him if the first goes well?”_

_Something like that. Isn’t that the sort of crap you peddle?_

_“Not when the subjects something your mind is certain about; no conflict, no ‘crap’. And you’ve been certain about your sexuality for a long time. Men are for manipulating if there’s something you need; woman are for dating. Besides, we both know who you’d rather go on a date with.”_

_Don’t even think about bringing up Kimmie,_ she spat and took another drink.

 _“I didn’t,”_ Miss go said slyly, _“you did.”_

 _Screw you._ She put her feet up on the coffee table and slouched back against the sofa.

_“Don’t worry, I’ll save that subject for tomorrow. The real question is, are you going to go to game day next time?”_

_Absolutely not! I put up with those loonies plus that feral naked-mole-shark, purely to get away from you._

_“Seriously, are you going to deny that you became rather fond of little Ru-Ru as well as the fact you had some fun?”_

She finished her second glass of whisky as the memory of the naked-mole-shark charging at, then proceeding to maul Drakken, played in her mind. _Ok, fine, so I thought the little guy was pretty funny, big whoop._

_“He was sad to say goodbye to you.”_

Shego recalled the look she had received from the naked-mole-shark as it trudged across the table and to DNAmy’s bag. _Yeah, I got that impression too. Given how much on an introvert Amy can be, I doubt he gets out to have fun much and I bet her cuddly nature really grates on his bad-boy rebel one._

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her jacket move slightly and her eyes turned to focus on it just as Miss Go said, _“and sneaky enough to stow away in your jacket pocket.”_

“Oh, no! No, no, no!” Shego said out loud as she watched her jacket slip off of the sofa.

A noise that sounded far too much like an, “ooof,” for her liking, echoed from the depths of her jacket. She quickly sat up and looked down at it, just as a small pink head appeared.

Ru-Ru picked himself up, let out a sleepy yawn and then gazed around at his surroundings. On catching sight of her staring down at him, he let out an excited, “woo-hoo!”

“No, no, no, no,” Shego said quickly, “not happening.” She stared intently down at the naked-mole-shark, “what on earth do you think you’re doing here?”

Ru-Ru met her gaze and quickly said, “ta-da!”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yeah, I get it, you stowed away in my jacket, very clever, but why?”

The naked-mole-shark lay down amidst the long, fluffy white fibres of the rug and pretended to make itself comfortable, “home.”

Shego’s eyes widened, “oh no! No way. Forget it! You’re going straight back to Amy!”

“Yuck!” Ru-Ru spat and nestled himself deeper into the rug, “ut-uh, ut-uh!”

She reached down, picked him up by the scruff of his neck and stared into his beady black eyes. “Read my lips, no way. Not happening.”

The naked-mole-shark gave her a sad look that was rather reminiscent of Kimmie’s infamous puppy-dog-pout. “Pwease,” he squeaked.

She felt her resolve weaken, much as it did when confronted by the same look from Kimmie. However, she shook her head and reiterated, “absolutely not. I don’t do pets, hairless, genetically spliced or otherwise.” She then set the naked-mole-shark down on the coffee table. “Besides, why would you want to stay with me? Amy created you and clearly loves you. Is your diet and beddy-bye time really that bad?”

Ru-Ru visibly shuddered and then said, “ut-uh, not love, collectable.”

She gave him a sideways look, “collectable?”

“Uh-hu,” the naked-mole-shark nodded. He then quickly glanced around the room and darted off the table.

“Hey, where the hell do you think you’re going?” She made a grab for him but missed. Her eyes then followed him as he ran across the floor, hopped up onto the phone table and tossed a notepad and pencil onto the floor. _Ok, what’s the little devil up to?_ She watched him struggle to carry both back to the coffee table and so got up to help him. Picking up rodent-fish, notepad and pencil, she set all three down on the coffee table and sat down to watch him furiously scribble a series of surprisingly detailed drawings. It seemed Amy had been right about the parent naked-mole-rat, or whatever relation it was to her creation, being exceptionally clever. _Where on earth did the buffoon get that damn thing? It sure as hell can’t be a normal naked-mole-rat._

Once he had finished, Ru-Ru laid out his drawings and drew her attention to them. “Ah,” he said and pointed to one of Amy pulling a leaver, followed by an arrow that pointed to the geneticist cuddling some sort of rhino-snake; love hearts above her head.

“Ok…” Shego uttered as her eyes scanned the rest of them. Each showed Amy pulling the leaver, followed by her surrounded in love hearts and cuddling the resultant creation. However, in the background of each, looking on with longing expressions, was a steadily increasing group of creatures from the previous drawings. She then reached one that was clearly the naked-mole-shark himself.

Ru-Ru then pointed at the last image, one that simply showed Amy and her love hearts standing beside a question mark; with himself now part of the crowd in the background.

“Ah,” Shego said, realising exactly what the naked-mole-shark was getting at. “Amy creates you one at a time, gives you all her love for a couple of months, then you simply become part of her collection when she moves onto her newest creation.”

“Uh-hu,” Ru-Ru nodded emphatically.

“What and you think you’ll get loved as my only child if you stay here?”

The naked-mole-shark blew her a raspberry and shook its head, “ut-uh, yuck!”

“Then what?” Shego asked.

“Freedom,” Ru-Ru said with a grin, “and cheese!”

 _I guess beddy-bye time and his diet really are that bad. But I can’t keep him… can I?_ She shook her head again, _dammit, Shego, get a grip of yourself. Of course you’re not keeping him. You don’t do friends, pets or asylum seekers._ “The answer is still no,” she said emphatically.

She then watched in horror as she was subjected to the full force of the infamous puppy-dog-pout; including the slight sniff Kimmie occasionally added for extra effect. _Where the hell did he learn to do that…? Unless he’s got some or all of Rufus’ memories._ She rolled her eyes, _no, not happening, I am not going to be shanghaied into keeping him, just because he can do that infuriating look of Princess’._ The slight watering in the corner of the naked-mole-shark’s eye drew a longsuffering sigh from Shego’s lips. “Fine, you can stay…”

“Woo-hoo!” Ru-Ru exclaimed as he clapped excitedly.

“…but **only** until I can get a hold of Amy, then you’re going home.”

Ru-Ru’s expression of delight did not change and she had a sneaking suspicion that he firmly believed he could wear her down on that stipulation. He then gave her a sweet smile, “cheese?”

Shego hit her palm off her forehead. _What have I just signed myself up for?_ Picking up her glass, she drained the last of the whisky from it. She then put the cork back in the bottle. “Fine, but then it’s bedtime. And I swear if it gives you bad gas during the night, it’ll be the last you get.”

Ru-Ru gulped slightly as she held out a hand for him to climb onto. The naked-mole-shark promptly hopped on, then took some serious liberties by scampering up her arm and onto her shoulder.

“Wait a minute, who do you think you are, Rufus?” she said in slight irritation as she turned to scowl at the creature.

Ru-Ru held up the claw equivalent of a thumb and forefinger and said, “little bit.”

Shego sighed, “I suppose you are literally half Rufus, but don’t think you’ll be making a habit of travelling on my shoulder,” she paused and thought for a moment, before adding, “or in my pocket.” _I am so not carrying you around like Stoppable does his naked-mole-rat._

She picked up the bottle of whisky and returned it to the liquor cabinet, then headed into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, Shego found a block of cheese, cut off a generous chunk and handed it to Ru-Ru. “Remember, bad gas and that’s your last. And for your sake, I hope you’re house trained or toilet trained… or whatever. Just don’t leave your droppings on my carpet or furniture.”

The naked-mole-shark nodded and chomped down on the cheese as she left the kitchen and headed upstairs. Walking into her bedroom, she set him down on a poufy lounge chair. “You can sleep on that and don’t even think about disturbing me while I sleep. My bed is off-limits.”

Ru-Ru nodded but was clearly giving the remainder of his cheese far more attention.

She picked up her pyjamas from the bed and headed for the bathroom; not wishing to give the creature a free peep show, as knowing her luck she’d find that Amy’s genetic splicing had given him a liking for human females. Once inside, she changed and used the facilities before going back into the main part of the bedroom. In the short amount of time it had taken, the naked-mole-shark had already finished his snack and snuggled down atop a cushion and pulled the throw over himself.

Shego shook her head as she climbed into bed. _How do I get myself into these situations?_ She cast the thought aside as she lay down and closed her eyes. For now, she didn’t care. It had been a long and quite frankly bizarre day and, given the streak she was currently on, tomorrow was liable to be just as bad. Sleep came quickly and without another thought from either herself or Miss Go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, ok, everyone take a deep breath after that lot. Did you all enjoy it?
> 
> When I started writing chapter 17, I hadn't planned on Kim taking Monique to Raul's, let alone to introduce a new subplot regarding her search for a boyfriend. By the same token, I also had not planned on Shego going to spend her Saturday with Dr Drakken or for him to be having other villains over for a game day or to create a naked-mole-shark. I had also not planned for Shego to lose the poker game (initially she was going to win) or for Ru-Ru to stow away in her jacket until I came to write chapter 22. Which has left us with three new subplots from a set of chapters that was never supposed to exist... oh boy am I in trouble, lol. 
> 
> So, where does this leave us in the grand scheme of things? Answer: I don't even want to hazard a guess, lol. In my very useless plan to take over the world (yeah the document is actually called that), I have an event written down that has been somewhat of a fixed point in time since I finished chapter four and decided where I wanted to take this story. While we are still on course for it (we'd probably be there by now if I didn't keep adding in extra chapters and subplots), I don't want to reveal what it is or put a time scale on how much longer it's going to take to get there. However, you will know when it happens and with a bit of patience, we will get there, promise. 
> 
> In regards to the next update, it will probably be three maybe four chapters. However, please don't quote me on that as I may very well end up going off on another tangent, lol.
> 
> Thank you all once again for your incredible support, it really does mean the world to me and I will see you all next time out. Until then, have fun and I hope to see you soon.
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


	23. I can feel the pressure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, so, after last week's mammoth update, I'm back again to bring you your weekly fix of And You And I. Yes, I know I'm a day late again, I do apologise. However, while I managed to keep this update on track in terms of length and without creating any extra subplots or chapters for myself to write, the third chapter took a slightly different direction than I had been anticipating. And to make sure it was the right direction, I had to write the first two chapters on the next update and go and re-edit it, before releasing it into the wild. Regardless, all three chapters of this update are present and accounted for and I'm happy with the direction in which the plot is headed as I guide the story towards the event I mentioned in my closing note of the last update.
> 
> As always, I have to say a huge thank you to everyone and your continued support. I think I picked up 17 Kudos and 6 new subscribers from that last update alone. So, to all of you that have only recently tunned in, welcome. It's great to have you with us as we continue with our little 'one-shot'.
> 
> So, let's get down to business. I've got three chapters for you this time, focusing on our girls respective Sunday nights out, the first of which is titled, I can feel the pressure. This is a line taken from the Paramore track Pressure; from their debut album, All we know is falling. And let's just say it quite nicely conveys how Kim is feeling in this particular chapter. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy and I'll see you at the start of the next chapter.

It had not been a fun night for Kim Possible. In fact, it had been one of the most restless she’d had in a long time. Amidst warm sheets and in the humid summer air, her temperature had spiked again and she had woken up in the early hours of Sunday morning dripping in sweat. She’d been forced to get out of bed, strip out of her pyjamas and find a towel with which to dry herself. Given that the room she had been in was no longer her bedroom, she had been forced to return to bed naked. Soon after she’d had to huddle the blankets around herself as she had been freezing, but then woken up sweating again less than an hour later. The fluctuations in her temperature had gone on all night and so by the time her mom had come to wake her for breakfast, she had still been exhausted.

After she had eaten some of her mom’s homemade pancakes, the woman had drawn her a bath before subjecting her to another examination. While she had dodged a trip to the hospital, she had not escaped another shot of antibiotics and more painkillers. However, her mom had taken pity on her, fetched her some fresh pyjamas, changed her bedsheets and allowed her to go back to sleep. The jury had still been out when it came to her plans to go out that night. When Kim had finally awoken mid-afternoon, she had felt a lot better. Her temperature had stabilised, her energy level had increased and the painkillers were keeping the pain at bay while not making her all Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. However, it had not been until after an early dinner, that her mom had given her the ok to actually go out, albeit with a few conditions.

The first had been that she was not allowed to drive. Meaning her mom had taken her home in order to get changed, driven her over to Monique’s house and then dropped both of them off in town. Number two had been that she could only have a maximum of four alcoholic drinks and none of them in any way shape or form were allowed to be strong. Naturally, she’d told her mom that she didn’t drink and received the, _“Kimmie, I was your age once too. I don’t mind if you’re drinking, so long as you do it responsibly,”_ routine. It had come as a slight surprise, but a welcome one. However, she suspected that the only reason underage drinking was remotely acceptable was because it constituted a ‘normal’ thing for someone her age to do. Number three had been that they go to Heartbeats and stay there, as her mom did not think it a good idea for her to be bouncing from bar to club to bar and so on. This suited Kim just fine. Finally, at the end of the night, she either had to phone her mom for a lift or take a cab back to her parents' house.

Kim reclined back on one of the leather sofas that flanked the table she shared with Monique. Dressed in a pair of red linen trousers, a black and white floaty top, a black boyfriend blazer and short onyx boots, she had managed to pull off stylish yet comfortable. It was perhaps the first time in a long time she had been out with someone other than Shego and not felt self-conscious in any way. The location helped too. Heartbeats was definitely on the upmarket side of town and like Spritzers had a relaxed feel to it, albeit with live jazz permeating the air, which complemented, rather than bombarded the atmosphere. In the centre of the room was a dancefloor, with the small stage across one side and low tables with an assortment of comfy chairs and sofas dotted around the other three. There was also a mezzanine floor around the same three walls with more space for sitting.

“Kim,” Monique said excitedly from the sofa opposite her, “two cute boys at six o’clock.”

She turned her head around to try and locate them but received a quick slap on the wrist from across the table. “What was that for,” Kim hissed, returning her gaze to her best girl.

“Easy, Tiger, they’ve only just walked through the door. Give them a chance to get a drink, figure out that seating is at a premium, then we move in on them.”

“Right…” she agreed, unsure of what else to say. This had never been her strong suit. For some reason, she could jump across the carriages of a speeding train without hesitation or ride an unstable rocket-powered lawnmower across a chasm and not even blink, but approach a boy and not make a fool of herself… no chance. “Any ideas?”

“Watch and learn, Girl,” Monique replied with a smile. “Although, how you can do all that crazy stuff you do but still have trouble talking to boys is beyond me.”

“I wish I knew the answer to that too.” From somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind, she thought she could hear a muffled voice reply, but she couldn’t make out what it said. Like the owner had been gagged or stuffed inside a chest. She elected to ignore it. This was not the time for internalised soul searching. “I guess it’s just always been easier for me to jump out of a plane than to ask a boy out.”

She picked up her drink; an apple sours and lemonade and followed Monique’s gaze to a pair of boys who had just glanced around the room while on route to the bar. They were both tall, but slender, one with light brown, almost fair hair and the other with darker, chocolate brown. From where she was sat, she could only take her best girl’s word on their cuteness level, but from their attire of chinos and fashionable jumpers, she suspected they were probably the more sensible variety of college student; maybe a year or two older than they were.

“Ok, Kim, you ready?” Monique asked when the boys had reached the front of the queue.

“Ready for what?” Kim asked, sensing she was about to get more than she’d bargained for.

Her best girl smiled at her, “to go snag us some company of course.”

She had to stifle a look of trepidation. “I thought you said I should watch and learn.”

“And watch and learn you shall,” Monique said as she stood up and held out a hand for Kim to take, “right by my side.”

Kim took a shaky breath as she hesitated. _Ok, this is so not what I had in mind. I’m totally going to blow this… Get a grip of yourself, Possible. It’s only going up to a bar and introducing yourself to some boys._ She took a steady breath as she strengthened her resolve. _I can do this. I’m the girl that can do anything. And anything is possible for a Possible._ “Ok,” she replied, her tone still carrying with it a hint of uncertainty. Reaching out she took the offered hand and rose to her feet. Her ribs gave her a slight stab of pain; a reminder that she was still very much injured.

“Ok, I’ll do most of the talking,” Monique said as she guided Kim towards the bar. “All you need to do is say hi when I introduce you and that’s it. If you don’t feel comfortable saying anything else until we’ve got them safely back to the table then don’t. There’s no pressure.”

While it sounded simple, for Kim it felt anything but. And the no pressure part did not align with the bubbling cauldron of nerves that was cooking up inside her stomach. She did not quite know why, but she felt an urgency about the whole thing. _This has to go well… I **need** this to go well. I need one of these boys to be nice, like me for me and for him to want to kiss me. _There was almost a desperation about that last point. _I **need** a nice boy to kiss me. _A feeling that she needed to prove something to herself.

She heard the now familiar voice of the Barkin-dragon say, _“boys kiss girls.”_

 _Boys kiss girls,_ she repeated to herself, _and I like boys._

Kim was drawn out of her internalised monologuing when she realised that they were almost at the bar. She watched as the two boys picked up their drinks and glanced around the room, clearly searching for somewhere to sit. It was at this precise moment that her best girl chose to strike.

“Hi,” Monique said, her voice calm, confident and friendly, with just a dash of seduction. The complete opposite of how Kim felt. “You guys looking for somewhere to sit?”

“Yeah,” the one with the light brown hair replied. His tone was polite and reciprocated the friendliness shown to him by Monique. Kim also did not fail to notice that he kept his gaze focused on her friend’s eyes, not her chest, a good sign.

“It seems pretty full tonight,” the chocolate haired one added. He too had an upstanding, gentlemanly air about him. A far cry from all the boys who had hit on her a week past Friday. “I’m actually surprised they let us in.”

“Well, if you can’t find anywhere else, you’re both welcome to sit with me and my friend,” Monique replied and Kim noted that she kept the invite light, with no pressure exerted to try and compel the boys to comply. “We’ve got a table with a pair of sofas and plenty of room over there,” her friend pointed towards their table. “I’m Monique, by the way and this is Kim.”

She waited with bated breath for a few heartbeats. Waited for one of the two boys to recognise her. To exclaim, _“oh my god, your Kim Possible,”_ in a similar vein as to how Drakken always yelled her name whenever she showed up to rumble his plans. But it didn’t happen. As the seconds ticked by, she felt Monique nudge her hand and she hastily said, “hi,” and gave them an awkward smile. Internally, she kicked herself, _way to blow it on the first word, Possible. Now they’re going to think you’re totally lame._

Much to her surprise and going against most of her high school experience when it came to chasing Josh Manky or Hirotaka, the two boys exchanged glances, before the first one replied. “That sounds cool. I’m Dylan by the way and this is Matt. It’s nice to meet you, ladies.”

The one called Matt met her gaze and with what sounded like a slight awkwardness, he said directly to her, “hi.”

“Hi,” Kim repeated, her lexicon having chosen to abandon her. She felt her cheeks redden slightly, but was saved from a complete wipe-out by Monique.

“This way, guys,” her best girl said and quickly took Kim by the hand and turned her around. “Ok, Girl, you’re doing fine,” Monique whispered in her ears. “But try and loosen up a little. These aren’t your douchebag jocks from high school. They’re not going to laugh at you or call you a loser for saying something stupid.”

“Ok,” Kim breathed, “loosen up, check.”

“And in case you missed it, I can already tell that Matt is interested in you.”

She felt her cheeks darken as she hissed, “are you sure?” While she already knew the answer was yes (she wasn’t that much of a social dunce yet), she felt the need to have her friend confirm it.

“Earth to Kim. He said hi directly to you. Not to me, not to both of us, to **you** ,” Monique replied, before quickly adding, “if you like the look of him, he’s all yours. Tonight’s about finding you a boyfriend. I’m here to help, not compete with you.”

“Thanks, Mo,” Kim replied, feeling a slight weight lift off of her. This would be a lot easier if she had just one target to focus her attention on and no need to worry about competition coming from her friend.

They reached their table, but Monique held her back from sitting down. “Have a seat, Guys,” her best girl said and indicated for them to sit down on the sofa that she herself had been sat on a few minutes’ prior.

Kim quickly realised the logic behind her best girl’s tactic as Dylan shuffled over to the far side of the sofa and sat down. Had Monique allowed her to go first, she would have been sitting across from the wrong boy. _Very clever, Mo._ Only once Matt too was seated, did her friend slide onto the sofa. Taking a steadying breath, Kim followed suit. _I can do this. I can do anything._

“So, what do you guys do?” Monique asked once all parties were comfortably seated.

“I am a programming major at M.I.S.T and Matt here is our resident physics geek,” Dylan replied.

Matt laughed, “yeah, the guy who thinks there’s something sexy about a succinct piece of code calls me the geek.”

Kim couldn’t help herself and burst out laughing. _That’s like Wade calling the Tweebs geeks._ Much to her surprise, once she had regained some measure of control over herself, she found that instead of receiving weird looks from everyone, that they had all joined in. It made her feel slightly more at ease.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh at the guy who likes computer code,” Dylan said indignantly. “You won’t be laughing if I decide to write a virus that crashes the internet or something.”

It was a far more relaxed laugh that escaped from Kim’s mouth this time and she resisted the urge to say, _“if you tried, I’d have to bust you.”_

“So, what about you ladies?” Matt asked, giving his friend a placating pat on the shoulder, “what do you do?”

“I’m a fashion major at Kent State in Ohio and Kim’s…”

“I work freelance,” Kim cut in, perhaps slightly too abruptly. However, she did not want to risk her best girl bigging her up as Kim Possible, world saviour. Unfortunately, without outright lying, it was difficult to whitewash over what she did for a living without it becoming obvious who she was, especially when the two boys already knew her name was Kim. The flaming red hair didn’t help either. “I help people with their problems,” she paused for a moment as she wracked her brain for suitable wording, “sort of like a PI.”

“Sounds like fun,” Dylan said enthusiastically, but she could tell that he had not managed to join the dots. Perhaps he spent a little too long looking at computer code and not enough time with his head in the real world.

Matt, on the other hand, said, “I bet you get around a lot. See some interesting places.”

Kim met the boy's gaze, stared into his chocolate coloured eyes and knew that he had figured out exactly who she was. In fact, she suspected that it had only been her new hairdo that had stopped him from recognising her when he first saw her. _Great, now I’m going to get the whole, “oh my god, oh my god, it’s Kim Possible!” thing._

Yet again, much to her surprise, she was not subjected to the gushing fanboy routine. Instead, Matt simply asked, “do you enjoy it?”

Kim took a moment to reply, her brain not quite able to process how normal the boy was being around her. Eventually, it took a prod under the table from Monique’s foot to get her to say, “yeah, I really do.” She then felt relaxed enough to add, “and you’re right. I do see some interesting places.”

“I bet not as interesting as the inside of Matt’s wardrobe,” Dylan chipped in. “I swear, he asked me to find something in there for him the other day and I ended up in Narnia.”

“Like yours is any better!” Matt retorted hotly, shooting his friend a death glare.

Kim couldn’t help but laugh. _What is it with people and the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe jokes this weekend?_ She picked up her apple sours and lemonade and took a drink. _Ok, so far so good. He’s nice-looking, seemingly well-mannered and has enough tact not to yell my name so that everyone in the place knows I’m here… and apparently has a messy wardrobe!_

“Do you guys stay on campus?” Monique inquired.

“Not anymore,” Dylan replied. “We both tried it in first-year, but neither of us got on with our more ‘athletically gifted’ roommates. So, we got an apartment together two years ago.”

 _So, they’re at least a year older than us,_ Kim noted. _Good to know, but no big._

Monique laughed, “in other words, you got stuck with a pair of jocks and couldn’t hack the smell.”

“Have you ever tried sharing a room with a jock?” Dylan exclaimed. “That smell is no laughing matter!”

Kim received another prod under the table from Monique, although did not understand why, until her best girl said, “sounds like someone’s got odour envy.” Her friend then let out an evil chuckle, “demasculinised by a smell, that must have been embarrassing.”

It became apparent, when Dylan shot back, “those protein shakes they consume cause them to fart a noxious chemical!” exactly what the girl was trying to do; pull Dylan into a friendly argument so that she would be free to talk to Matt by himself.

Kim focused her attention on the chocolate haired boy. _Ok, Possible, you can do this. Just relax and be yourself… except myself is someone who climbs down the inside of active volcanoes for fun. Not exactly something that others can relate to._ She took a sip of her drink and asked the first thing that came to her mind, “what are you drinking?” _Nice going, dumbass._

Matt laughed, not a mocking laugh or one of derision, no, it was that of someone about to say, “your guess is as good as mine. Every time we’re out, Dylan keeps ordering us these random drinks that he’s read about online.” He slid his glass over to her. “Have a taste if you want. However, be warned, I have no idea what’s in it.”

Kim hesitated for a moment. _Ok, hold on a second, I only asked what it was you were drinking, not what it tasted like._ Was it ok for her to taste someone’s drink when you had only met them ten minutes ago? She looked at the slightly unsure smile on the boy’s face. _Is he as nervous about talking to me as I am him?_ Given how she herself felt at that moment in time, it just did not compute. She gave the drink a sniff and discovered an air of familiarity. I _bet Shego would know what it is by just looking at it._ The thought crossed her mind before she could stop it, but she quickly shook it from her head. Next time she saw the green-skinned woman, she’d be sending her to jail, not asking her out for a drink. Cautiously, she took a sip and recognised the taste immediately.

“It’s a Long Island iced tea,” she finally replied as she handed the glass back. She then rattled off the list of ingredients that Shego had told her were in it on Friday. “Vodka, gin, white rum, tequila, triple sec, Gomme syrup, lemon juice and a splash of cola. They’re actually quite nice.”

Matt laughed, “no drink has a right to contain that much booze.” The boy then hesitated before he added, “if you like it… maybe I could buy you one… once you finished that,” he pointed to her apple sours and lemonade.

The offer caught her off guard and in her panic, an image of her mom, with a stern expression on her face filled her mind, accompanied by the woman’s second condition of the evening; no strong alcohol and so she accidentally blurted out, “no.”

Matt’s face fell and he quickly said, “oh, ok.”

 _Shit!_ Realising what she had just done, Kim hastily overcompensated, “no, that’s not what I meant. What I meant to say was that I’m not allowed to drink.” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she even realised that they were of little help and so she did it again, “wait that’s not what I mean. It’s these drugs I’m on they…” she managed to stop herself on realising how what she had just blurted out might sound. Her cheeks turned bright red and she threw her head into her hands, _nice going, Possible._

A light chuckle from opposite her, that contained no hint of nastiness, reached Kim’s ears and she lifted her head to see a warm smile on Matt’s face. “Don’t worry about it. You’re on medication and can’t have too much alcohol, I get it.”

Kim breathed a sigh of relief; she’d just made a complete and utter idiot out of herself and not found herself a laughing stock. _I can’t believe how nice Matt is._ Unfortunately, history had taught her to be wary of people who were really nice too, given what had happened with Eric. _Ok, so the chances of him being a Synthodrone are slim, but let’s not count it out just yet._ “I hurt my ribs on Friday and so the doctor gave me some painkillers and told me to go easy on the alcohol tonight.”

“No sweat,” Matt replied and gave her a warm smile. The boy then decided to try his luck again, “maybe I can get you something else once you finish your drink.”

“Yes,” Kim replied slightly too eagerly. _Dammit, get a grip of yourself, Possible. You’re swinging from one extreme to the other so quickly you’re going to give him whiplash._ “I mean, if you want to.” Internally she did a facepalm, _nice save, idiot._

Matt, still smiling at her, then said, “so, can I ask what you like to do for fun?”


	24. O cho meallt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, one down, two to go. As this chapter is going to be focusing on Shego and her date with Killigan, I'll include another little glossary for those of you that might have trouble with his broad Scots. And speaking of everyone's favourite golfing Scotsman, the chapter title this time, O cho meallt, is the name of a track by Runrig, from their album, Heartland and is in Scottish Gaelic. However, I'll leave the translation until the end of the chapter. Enjoy.

**A guide to Killigan speach 2.0:**

evenin’: Evening ye/yer: You/your dinnae: don’t wee: small summin’: something aye: yes lass/lassie: girl ‘tis: it is maself: myself

hae: have fer: for efter: after wid: would alsae: also wis: was jist:just geed: gave wi: with laddie: boy hisnae: hasn’t noo:now

cairds: cards a’ways: always hid: hold tae: to ca’d: called wis: was couldnae: couldn’t oot: out aboot: about doot: doubt

ken: know whit: what disnae: doesn’t a’ve: I’ve aff: off maist: most noo: now wimmen: women widna: wouldn’t tak: take

‘im: him soonds: sounds A’right: alright Och: oh ba: ball

##

It had been a strange day for Shego. She’d woken in the morning to the sound of someone, or rather something else’s snoring. She had ignited a hand before her eyes fell upon the lounge chair; the source of the noise and her brain had quickly remembered the events of the previous night. For such a small creature, Ru-Ru; the naked-mole-shark, made quite the racket while asleep. With both her phone and alarm clock having suffered unfortunate accidents over the previous two days, she had needed the clock on the CD player to tell her that it had been six am; her normal wake up time. She’d elected to leave Ru-Ru where he was, recalling DNAmy having said something about him getting cranky in the morning if he didn’t get to bed at a reasonable time. She’d ran through her normal two-hour morning workout and gone for a shower before waking him. As Amy had claimed, he had not taken kindly to it, but the stick of a very hot finger when he’d tried to bite her and the carrot of more cheese, had worked wonders to get him up. For the first time in over six years, she’d actually had another sentient being to feed at breakfast time. Unfortunately, this had brought with it the memory of a certain blonde-haired girl whom she’d rather forget and she’d known that little Miss Go would probably dissect the moment when next she was alone.

After breakfast, Drakken had called to tell her that Amy had been on the phone in hysterics at having lost her naked-mole-shark and could she come in and help him search the lair for the ‘little beast’. She was not sure why, perhaps because Drakken had sounded rather panicked at the thought of Ru-Ru being on the loose in his lair or that she found it amusing that he would have to search the entire place for something that wasn’t there, but she had neglected to tell him that the naked-mole-shark had stowed away inside her jacket. Instead, she’d told him it was still the weekend and so he could sod off. She’d received a sly grin from Ru-Ru, who it transpired had been eavesdropping. So, she’d shot a tiny plasma ball at him and told him that he’d lost his cheese privileges for the remainder of the day as punishment. He had not been happy, but a polite reminder that she could easily call Drakken back had got him to toe the line. She had then spent the day in the garage, tinkering with a new upgrade for the Blackbird. Mad-science might not have been her thing, but she knew her way around a motorbike and would not let anyone else touch her pride and joy. In what she had assumed could only have been an attempt to restore his cheese privileges, Ru-Ru had forgone the offer of free access to the TV and decided to assist. Apparently, he had a good working knowledge of tools and mechanical components and so actually came in useful. However, when probed on where he had picked up the knowledge, he had been unable to answer. Leading to think that perhaps he did have some of Rufus’ memories buried in his subconscious.

Evening had eventually rolled around and the naked-mole-shark had politely reminded her that she had an unfortunate social engagement at seven-thirty. She’d left him in front of the TV with a large bag of cheese balls as a reward for his help and a warning that should she come back to find the house trashed, going home to Amy would be the least of his worries. She’d then gone upstairs to get cleaned up and dressed. Given that Killigan was taking her to the most expensive Italian restaurant in the tri-city area, she had been forced to dress appropriately, donning a green dress with black shoes, jacket and handbag. It had made riding the Blackbird somewhat awkward, so she had kept her speed within the limits for once. Had she crashed it would have hurt like hell, but her glow would have been able to patch her up, so she had not been worried.

Shego parked the Blackbird in what was becoming her usual parking spot in the lot and cut the engine. Climbing off, she stowed her helmet below the seat and activated the security system before heading out onto the sidewalk. It was only a short walk to Antonio’s Italian restaurant. She stepped inside to find Duff Killigan waiting for her in the entrance hall. Tonight, much to her surprise, he had traded his traditional Kilt and plaid attire for a pair of tartan trousers, a white shirt with a black bow-tie and a black dinner jacket. She had no intention of saying this to him, but he scrubbed up far better than Dr Drakken; who thought the addition of a red bow-tie to his usual double-breasted coat constituted getting dressed up.

“Evenin’, Lass,” Killigan said as he stood up to greet her. “I hope ye don’ mind, but I brought ye a wee summin.”

Shego was about to roll her eyes at what she assumed was away to be a box of chocolates or worse, a single rose, when she caught sight of the cardboard box in the Scotsman’s hands. “Is that…” she trailed off, knowing full well what **that** was.

“Aye, ‘tis, Lass. A bottle o’ Glengoyne 25-year-old malt and if a do say so maself, a very nice wee tipple.”

It was rare that someone could do something to cause Shego’s eyes to pop out of their sockets or render her speechless, but Duff Killigan had just done both. _Damn, that’s a decent whisky and expensive. I suppose putting up with him for a couple of hours has just been made worthwhile._ “Thanks,” she replied nonchalantly and took the cardboard box from him, “I’ll make sure it gets a good home.”

“Not at all, Lass. Tis ma pleasure. Tis rare to find a young lass that likes a good malt, let alone has good taste; ‘specially on this side o’ the pond,” Killigan replied. “Now, shall we go hae some grub? Am starvin’.”

“I suppose so,” she replied, although her tone no longer held the level of ice she had been expecting to use for the duration of the evening.

Killigan stepped up towards the podium and addressed the maitre d’, “reservation fer seven-thirty under the name Killigan, Laddie.”

The maitre d’ did not look like he cared for the term ‘laddie’, but nevertheless replied in his practised voice, “very good, Sir. If you and the young lady will follow me please.” He withdrew two menus from his podium and stepped through the archway into the restaurant.

“Efter you, Lass,” Killigan said and indicated for her to go in first.

 _Who would have thought, Duff Killigan can be quite the gentleman... unlike **some** super-villains I know. _She walked through the archway, her eyes automatically scanning the room. Unsurprisingly, the restaurant was full; mostly with couples but there were one or two larger groups, families she suspected. Regardless, the threat level was minimal, so long as the Scotsman continued to behave himself. The maitre d’ led them to a round table near the back of the room, pulled out her chair and offered to take her coat, which she declined. He then handed her an open menu once she was seated.

“Would you like to see the wine list, sir?” the man then asked Killigan once he too had sat down.

“Aye, I wid, Laddie. And I’d alsae like tae see yer list o’ malts,” Duff replied.

The matitre d’ gave the Scotsman a funny look, “list of malts, Sir?”

“Whisky, Laddie, scotch,” Killigan admonished, clearly of the opinion that the man should have known what he was talking about the first time around.

“Very good, Sir. I shall fetch it at once.” The maitre d’ bustled off to the bar and returned with both the whisky and wine lists. He handed them to Killigan. “I’ll have Alfonso come and take your order in a moment. Will that be all, Sir?”

Before the Scotsman could reply, Shego cut in, “how about you take that pole out your backside and stop being such an old-fashioned misogynist? Did it ever occur to you that I might want to pick my own drink?” It was a pet hate of hers when waiters still stuck by the archaic tradition of addressing everything to the man in a couple, not that she dined with men often. In fact, she wondered how they managed with a homosexual pair. _Probably have an aneurism because their old-fashioned ways don’t allow for such scandalous things to occur._

The maitre d’ looked both shocked and offended that she had called his time-honoured traditions into disrepute. So, she fixed him with a cold glare that said, _“you don’t want to fuck with me. Take the scolding and stop being so uptight.”_

“Very well, Madame, if you insist. I shall advise Alfonso of your particular request.” He walked away without another word.

Shego turned to Killigan, suppressing a grin. As soon as the man was out of earshot, he burst out laughing. “I thought that laddie wis gonna drop doon deed fae that look you jist geed him.”

“What can I say, my looks are killer,” Shego replied, her tone laced with sass and deliberately highlighting the double meaning.

“Aye, I’ll agree wi ye there. I’ve seen ye angry an tis no a pretty sight. I’m surprised Drew hisnae died o’ fright by noo, “the Scotsman replied.

“Or plasma burns,” she added.

There was a somewhat awkward silence between them as Killigan flicked through the whisky list, before passing it over to her. She would have a glass of wine or two with her meal but had no objections to a scotch beforehand. The selection was fairly limited but the quality on offer more than made up for it. She chose a twenty-one-year-old Balvenie Portwood. When Alfonso the waiter came over to take their order, he seemed more than happy to acquiesce to Shego’s request that the archaic traditions of waiting be given the boot. _Perhaps he’s more liberal than that stuffy old coot of a boss._ They ordered their whiskies and it was only once they arrived, that Killigan finally decided to engage her in conversation.

“Listen, Lass, cairds on the table. Am no really interested in ya.”

Shego gave him a sceptical look, “really?” she said suspiciously.

“Am no, honest, Lass,” Killigan replied firmly. “Besides, if ye dinnae mind me saying, I a’ways got the feeling that you putted for the other team. If ye catch me drift.”

She caught his drift and found it somewhat surprising that he’d made a correct assumption on that count. _It seems that Duffy’s far smarter than I ever gave him credit for._ Again, she found herself drawn a comparison with Dr Drakken. The so-called genius had never figured out that she was actually a lesbian, who occasionally used her looks to manipulate men into getting what she wanted. However, that was all well and good, but left one serious question, “if that’s true, then why the hell did you even ask for a date with me as a wager against your whisky? And isn’t golf a solo sport?”

“Hid yer horses, Lass, am getting tae that. And it can be played in teams. Ye no heard o’ a wee tournament ca’d the Ryder Cup?”

“I don’t do golf,” she said flatly. “Just get to the point.”

Killigan drummed his fingers on the edge of the table in a slightly nervous fashion.

She did not fail to pick up on this action. _Ok, so he’s worried about something, probably about how I’m going to react. Is that an indication that I should warm up the plasma ball right now?_

“I wis hoping I could get yer help wi summin,” the Scotsman finally said.

Shego rolled her eyes. “Seriously?” she said in an exasperated manner. “Could you not just have asked yesterday, instead of dragging me out here tonight?”

“No exactly, Lass,” Killigan admitted, somewhat cautiously. “It’s a bit o’ a sensitive matter and I couldnae hae blurted it oot in front o’ Drew an Amy. Besides I wis hopin’ fer a few wee pointers aboot me conduct the night. As yeh no doot ken, I can get a wee bit irritable at times.”

Shego brought her hand up to her forehead and shook her head at having realised what the man wanted help with. “Please tell me you did not make that wager because you want my help with girl trouble?” She asked the question but already knew the answer.

“Aye, Lass, ah did.”

“Seriously? You extort a date out of someone you think is a lesbian because you want her help in getting you a girlfriend?” She took a drink of her whisky to keep herself from igniting her hands and tossing a plasma ball at him.

Killigan looked slightly offended at her comment. “No jist any girl, Lassie, it’s Amy am efter.”

Her eyes widened on hearing who it was that Duff wished to date. She tried to suppress a laugh, actually managed to hold it for a few seconds, but then it burst out. “Seriously? It’s DNAmy that you’re interested in.” Had it not been for the fact that he knew she was a lesbian, she probably would have felt insulted by the whole affair.

“An’ whit’s wrong wi that, Lassie?” Killigan boomed, definitely offended this time.

“Geeze, I don’t know?” Shego said sarcastically. “How about she’s an introverted, mad geneticist who turned her obsession with Cuddle Buddy’s into a zoo of genetically spliced abominations.” She said the phrase and immediately her mind served her up a picture of an upset looking Ru-Ru. _Ok, so maybe not everything she creates is an abomination. But that naked-mole-shark is more the exception than the rule._ However, she quickly added, “not to mention she was a complete and utter flake until her obsession with Monkey Fist started.”

If her words had been intended to curb Killigan’s enthusiasm, they seemed to have the opposite effect. “So, she disnae get oot much. Tis no like a’ve ever seen a young lassie hinging aff yer arm.”

“Given that yesterday was the first time you’ve ever seen me when I’ve not been working, I’d say you’re in no position to comment.” She had no intention of telling Killigan that she’d not been on a date with a girl in a good while and did not do relationships.

“Aye, well that’s no the point, Lass.”

“True, there’s just all the other issues with Amy to contend with.”

Killigan did not look deterred. “Look, the lass is no any mare bonkers than maist o’ the other villains' oot there. However, the issue wi Monkey Fist might be a sticking point. Not tae mention that I can be a wee bit prickly noo and again. Any ideas?”

 _Well, this is not what I expected to be doing over the course of this date. Still, it beats having to fend off his advances for a couple of hours. But seriously, DNAmy? Each to their own, I guess._ She was about to reply, when Alfonso came to take their order, only to find that neither of them had bothered to even look at their food menus yet.

It was quite amusing to watch him scurry off when Killigan told him that, “if a’m goin’ tae be paying fer the grub, I’ll be pickin’ it in ma own time. Noo beat it until I signal ye tae come bac, ye halfwit.”

Shego laughed as her eyes perused the list of appetisers. Like most upmarket Italian restaurants, their names were all in the native language. While the owners would probably claim it was done for authenticity purposes, she had always been of the opinion that the staff just liked to silently laugh at people as they tried to pronounce the names of the dishes. “Ok, first tip, while I find you sending the waiter scurrying away amusing, most woman, Amy included, probably won’t.”

“Ye really think so, Lass?” Killigan asked, sounding slightly confused. “I thought maist wimmen liked a strong fella?”

She rolled her eyes and took another drink of her whisky. “Contrary to popular belief, most women care more about you being caring and compassionate, than how big your dick is. And that little display there, that was you being a large dick. Amy won’t like it.” She saw the slightly disheartened look on his face and decided to throw him a bone. “However, the fancy restaurant, making the effort to dress appropriately and the gift, they’ll all get you points.” The Scotsman’s eyes lit up on hearing this, but before she let him get carried away with himself, she chose to give him an important warning, “only make sure you buy **appropriate** gifts. Amy like’s cuddly things, so won’t appreciate a bottle of malt.”

“Aye, I suppose that makes sense,” Killigan replied as he scratched his beard. “She widna tak even a wee nip when ah offered it tae her yesterday.”

Shego left him to ponder her words of wisdom, as she made her choices for dinner; Arancini to start and chicken in a white wine and mushroom sauce for her main. When Killigan had made his own choices for dinner, she observed as he signalled Alfonso over and spoke politely to him this time. They ordered food plus a bottle of white wine to have with the meal when it arrived, plus another two whiskies.

Once she was sitting with a fresh Balvenie in her hand, Shego returned to imparting her sagely wisdom. _Why is it that even as a villain, I seem to get lumbered with the teaching roles?_ Granted, when it had come to Seinor Senior, Junior, she had taken the job of her own volition because of the large salary his father had offered. _If I can turn Junior into a competent villain, I can help you brush up on your dating skills._ “Your bigger problem is Monkey Fist,” she said firmly.

“I hid a bad feelin’ ye wis gonna say that,” Killigan replied as she scratched his chin. “So, whit day ah day? Challenge the laddie tae a dual?”

She laughed, “keep your claymore in your pants, Braveheart. First off, Monkey Fist hates Amy. He’d happily let you knock him out with a golf club if it meant she stopped chasing him.”

“Aye, ah can see yer point there, Lass. The dirty bastard never wis very appreciative o’ her. An efter she spent a’ that time makin ‘im human again tae.”

After having dug up his statue-fied body from Japan, Amy had devoted herself to restoring her paramour to his human/monkey form. How exactly she had accomplished this, Shego did not know. However, it had transpired that as soon as he was able, Monkey fist had made like a banana and split.

“Any suggestions, Lass?” Killigan asked keenly.

She had to think for a bit before an idea came to her. “Well, before her Monkey Fist, Amy was a serious flake when it came to her obsessions.”

The Scotsman looked confused. “Whit, like they bars o’ crumbly chocolate?”

Shego took a drink in place of letting out a longsuffering sigh. _I guess you **can** be just as much of an idiot as Drakken. _“No,” she said firmly. “As in someone who is totally unreliable, especially when it comes to people. Like with her genetically spliced Cuddle Buddy’s, Amy used to obsess over **anyone** who so much as smiled at her, until the point where they managed to get rid of her. Soon as that happened, she’d move right on to the next poor sap. That’s probably why Drakken can stand to be around her again as her obsession with him wore off once he managed to escape from her.”

“Ah don’ see how that helps, Lass?” Killigan replied. “In fact, it soonds jist a wee bit insultin’.”

“Yeah, you clearly never met Amy before she became perpetually obsessed with Monkey Fist. My point is, she’s got prior to dropping someone like a mouldy deuce. If you work at her long enough, maybe she’ll finally forget about Monkey Fist.”

“So, whit should ah dae, invite her oot tae dinner?” Killigan asked.

“No, no, no,” Shego said quickly. “She might construe that as being a date…” she paused mid-sentence as the unwanted memory of her disastrous evening with Kimmie drifted through her mind, specifically the part where the hero effectively told her to go fuck herself and she felt a flash of anger. _Screw Kimmie._

The feeling must have partly manifested on her face, as Killigan asked, “are ye ok, Lass?”

“I’m fine,” she said darkly, before swiftly getting back on topic. “Start small, maybe ask her if she wants to go out for coffee.” Again, she was reminded of Kimmie, this time of the vague invite the girl had given her. “And make sure she understands that you want to do it as a **friend**.”

“A’right, I see whit yer sayin’. Tak it slow, be friends wi’ her before ah try tae pit the moves on her.”

Shego shuddered. “Don’t ever use that term around me again,” she warned and gave him a look that said in no uncertain terms that if he did, she’d torch him in a blaze of green plasma. “And it’s probably best if Amy doesn’t here you use it either.” 

As if on cue, their appetizers arrived and she was left to mull over the other part of Killigan’s last remark; about him being friends with Amy first. It probably wouldn’t have bothered her in the slightest, had it not been lifted directly from her own advice. And she did not need an intervention from little Miss Go to tell her, w _ell, doesn’t that make me a big old hypocrite._

Unfortunately, the silence while they ate gave the rouge part of her brain the perfect opportunity to insert itself. _“That’s some good advice you just gave Killigan. Any particular reason why you aren’t willing to follow it yourself?”_

_Just because it’s good advice for him in his pursuit of Amy, doesn’t mean it’s good advice for me. There’s no one size fit’s all when it comes to advice. And you’re supposed to be the child development teacher too._

_“You and me both. I seem to recall all of you being in favour of getting that teaching degree,”_ Miss go replied smoothly. _“Besides, you and I both know that some advice **is** universal and that little bit about being friends before trying to aim for something more, that definitely counts.”_

 _Only if you’re looking to start a relationship,_ Shego hit back.

_“Which is exactly what you should be doing,” Miss Go retorted. “While you’ll argue the toss, you know full well that going on single dates for the purpose of casual sex isn’t the right thing to do.”_

She sliced one of her arancini balls and skewered part of it on her fork with a little too much gusto. _Works for me when I want to get my rocks off._

_“You don’t do it to get your rocks off, that’s what you have a selection of good vibrators at home for. If it was, then you would do it a lot more often. Remind me, when was the last time that you slept with someone?”_

_Don’t know, don’t care,_ Shego said offhandedly and ate another piece of arancini; the risotto balls cooked and fried to perfection. She followed it up with a mouthful of a Sicilian pinot grigio, which complimented the dish perfectly.

Unfortunately, neither rice ball nor wine was able to stop Miss Go from continuing, _“exactly. What you really do, is go on a date because you need that feeling of being intimate with another human being. However, we both know that casual sex with someone you’ve never met before doesn’t offer nearly the same level of intimacy as sex with someone you know well… intimately. The problem you have is that after that need becomes too strong to resist and you actually go on a date with someone, you can’t let them get close to you because you’re afraid of getting hurt again. The psychology’s textbook really.”_

Shego stabbed at her remaining arancini ball with so much force that her fork made a loud, harsh thunk against her plate.

Having just finished his own appetizer, Killigan chose that moment to bother paying attention to her again. “Are you a’right, Lass?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” Shego replied quickly. “My fork just slipped, that’s all.” Sensing that little Miss Go would not leave her be if she sat in silence, she quickly asked a question that she knew would keep the Scotsman talking indefinitely, “so, why don’t you explain golf to me? I’ve never really understood it as a sport.”

A broad smile formed on Killigan’s face. “Och tis a smashing sport, literally. Nothing beats the soond o’ a driver smashing a golf ba aff the tea on the first hole.”

This was going to be long, boring and borderline insufferable. However, Shego intended to try her damndest to pay attention and ask as many questions as she could. Anything that would keep little Miss Go at bay. _I’ve survived Drakken talking about his childhood, I can survive Killigan talking about golf._ It might have felt like a lesser of two evils situation, but she’d take what she could get. Regardless, the remainder of dinner was going to be long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Shego was asked out by Killigan to give him advice on his pursuit of DNAmy. I can now tell you that O cho meallt translates to Oh how deceitful. Hence, why I couldn't give the translation at the start of the chapter without giving the game away that something suspicious was afoot. Anyway, I'll see you all in two shakes for the third and final chapter of this update.


	25. It isn’t only me that you’re running from

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, number three of three and it's another 10K plus chapter to close out this update. So, still plenty for you to get your teeth into. The title this time, It isn’t only me that you’re running from, is a slightly modified (replacing wasn't for isn't) lyric from the Pink Floyd song, Poles apart, which you may remember was the title to chapter 14. Hmmm, I wonder why I might be revisiting that old chestnut? Guess you're just going to have to read on and find out. Enjoy and I'll see you all at the end.

A light beat fluttered from the stage, out across the dance floor and to the ears of those seated on the comfortable chairs and sofas that surrounded it like a horseshoe; it also had no issue in reaching the mezzanine floor above. It never commanded a listener’s attention or forced itself upon them, rather was there for someone to enjoy should they so desire. Needless to say, the atmosphere of the bar could be summed up perfectly as relaxed. This was the exact opposite of how Kim Possible currently felt.

Sitting on a sofa beside her best girl; Monique and across from two boys whom they had met only two hours prior, Kim was uneasy... on edge even. Matt, the boy directly opposite her and the one who had taken an interest in her, had bought her a drink; an apple sours and lemonade, almost an hour ago and they had talked casually. But things hadn’t gone anywhere from there. There had been no push from him to make a move on her and likewise, she hadn’t known how to advance things either. While this had been fine to begin with, for she did not think she could have handled someone being pushy, the longer it went on the more awkward she felt. She had genuinely tried to engage him, to convey the fact that she was interested in them doing… whatever it was you were supposed to do in such situations. Unfortunately, therein lay the rub. Every time she reached for something to say that might allow for some sort of progress, she drew a big fat blank in her mind. So, there she sat, slowly retreating into herself and allowing the music to claim more and more of her attention. At least in the moments when it gripped her, the awkwardness receded.

“…yo, Kim?”

Kim’s eyes darted to her left when she heard Monique say her name, only to find an empty space on the sofa beside her.

“This way, Girl,” her friend said playfully.

She turned around to look towards the dancefloor, only to find her best girl obscuring her view. She hadn’t even noticed that the girl had stood up and walked past her.

Mo extended a hand out to her, “will you come help me? I think I smudged my lipstick.”

Kim looked up at Monique’s lips and unsurprisingly saw that there was nothing wrong with her lipstick. Nevertheless, she took the outstretched hand, more than happy to take the opportunity to escape the increasingly awkward situation. Besides, she knew fine well that her friend clearly had something to say that she could not talk about in front of their male companions. Perhaps she liked Dylan; the fourth member of their quartet. Rising to her feet, she followed the girl around the edge of the dancefloor and to the lady’s room.

“What’s up, Mo?” Kim asked once they were safely inside and the door shut, as though her voice might somehow carry across the room to the supposedly eavesdropping ears of Dylan and Matt.

“Girl, what on earth are you doing out there?” Monique asked. Her tone was by no means harsh but definitely commanded an answer.

“Umm, sitting having a drink and listening to the band?” she replied stupidly, not really sure what else to say.

Needless to say, that had been the wrong answer.

“Exactly!” Monique exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration. “Kim, I know it’s been a while since you last hooked up with someone, but the way you’re acting out there it’s like you’ve never picked up a guy before in your life.”

“Umm, technically…” she had been about to say that was actually true (Josh had asked her out, Eric had been a Synthodrone programmed to go out with her and Ron… well they’d sort of just come together at the junior prom after having saved the world), but her best girl swiftly cut her off.

“Don’t want to hear your excuses, Girl,” Monique replied. “Matt is interested in you and you’re doing nothing to encourage him. In fact, if I wasn’t keeping Dylan entertained, they would probably have left already!”

 _Great, way to crank up the pressure, Mo._ However, Kim did not say this. Instead, she replied, “I think you might have been wrong on that one. He’s not done anything to try and move things along.”

Monique rolled her eyes. “He knows who you are, doesn’t he?”

She was at least ninety-nine percent sure that the boy did. While Matt had not vocalised the fact he knew she was Kim Possible, the way he had phrased certain things and the look she had received when they had all spoken about what they did in life, had convinced her that he knew her identity. “I think so.”

“Well, there’s your problem, Kim. Any nice boy would feel intimidated when sitting across from you.”

She almost burst out laughing. Given the way she felt at present, the idea of anyone feeling intimidated by her seemed utterly ridiculous. “Don’t be silly, Mo. Why on earth would he feel intimidated by me?”

Monique did a facepalm. “Geez, Girl, I don’t know,” she said sarcastically, “maybe because you’re **Kim Possible!** You save the world on a weekly basis, do things that even the bravest guys wouldn’t even dream about.”

“But that’s no big…”

“No big for you maybe. But to any guy with half a brain cell, your reputation alone is enough to intimidate, probably even emasculate them. Regardless of what their most manly achievement is, you probably toped it back when you were fourteen and asleep no less,” Monique finished.

Despite how she felt, Kim could see the line of logic that her best girl was laying out for her to follow. Unfortunately, this revelation served only to highlight the growing distance between herself and normal, everyday people. _Maybe that was the driving force behind my relationship with Ron. At least he understood that part of my life. Except that doesn’t help me now. And I **need** this to go well. _“Ok, I see where you’re coming from, Mo. But what do I do about it?”

“You gotta go out there and take control of the situation, Kim,” Monique replied, sounding certain about that fact.

This did not make her feel any better. “Ok… how exactly do I do that? Again, I’ve technically never done this before.”

Monique took a deep breath before replying, “first things first, we’re going to go back out there and you’re going to ask him to dance.”

Kim gulped at this idea. _I can’t do that!_ She felt her heart rate increase slightly and a stab of pain from her ribs. Perhaps they were trying to offer her a good excuse as to why she couldn’t ask Matt to dance with her.

She opened her mouth to say this, but Monique, possibly having seen the worry in her eyes, swiftly added, “don’t worry, I’ll be right beside you asking Dylan to dance with me.

_Ok… that makes it slightly easier if Mo’s going to be doing it too._

“Second, once you’ve danced with him, you’re going to take him to the bar and get him a drink.”

“Umm, won’t that make him feel even more emasculated?” Kim asked.

She received a reproving snort from Monique. “Girl, this is the twenty-first century. If he can’t handle you buying him a drink, then you don’t want him.”

_Ok, that makes sense. If he can’t handle me buying him a drink, how will he ever be able to cope with everything else I do._

“Third, when you come back from the bar, you’re going to sit down **beside** him on the sofa. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure that Dylan and I are not there to get in your way. That way Matt will know you purposefully sat down beside him.”

“Wait a minute, Mo, slow down,” Kim blurted out. _This is going way too fast for me._

“Kim, if you want this to work, you need to be bold. You need to let him know that you’re interested in him.”

“But I’m not sure I can do that…”

Monique gave her a pointed look. “Are you or aren’t you the girl who can do anything?”

On hearing her friend utter her own Motto, Kim felt her shaky resolve stiffen somewhat. _She’s right. I’m supposed to be the girl who can do anything. Come on, Kim, get a grip of yourself. You foil evil super-villains on a weekly basis. You can ask a boy to dance, buy him a drink and then sit down beside him!_ “Ok, Monique, I can do this,” she said, perhaps more confidently than she actually felt.

“Good. Because once the two of you are comfortable, you’re going to get his attention, look at him with those big olive-green eyes of yours and tell him to kiss you.”

 _WAIT! WHOA, BACK UP A MINUTE! I CAN’T DO THAT!_ While she might not have vocalised the thought, she might as well have. For it was written all over her face.

“Yes, you can,” Monique replied firmly, “you can do anything. And I know fine well that you’ve kissed boys before.”

“But am I not supposed to wait for him to ask if he can kiss me?” Kim asked, looking for a way out of Mo’s fourth point. She might have been desperate for a boy to kiss her, to reaffirm that she did indeed like boys, but the idea of making such a bold move filled her with dread.

“Yeah, if this was the fifties. You’ve got as much right to tell him to kiss you as he does to ask you to do the same. Welcome to the age of equality, Kim.” Monique then laughed at the look of horror that spread across her face.

Kim sucked in a deep breath, felt it catch in her lungs and started coughing.

“You ok, Girl?” her friend asked in concern.

“Yeah…” she replied when she had stopped and was able to draw enough breath to utter the singular word. However, she had to pause for a moment to steady herself, before adding, “I’m fine. I just tried to take too deep a breath.”

“You know I’m supposed to take you home if you start coughing too much.”

Kim’s cheeks turned red. “Mom’s got you babysitting me?” she asked hotly, feeling a wave of irritation directed towards her mom. _I don’t need someone looking after me. I can take care of myself!_

“She wasn’t going to let you come if I didn’t agree to keep an eye on you,” Monique replied, but quickly added, “however, I’m not going to pack you off home, just because you coughed once. Besides, you’ve got a cute boy to reel in. Now, are you ready to get out there and work that Kim Possible magic on him?”

She wasn’t ready. However, Kim had a suspicion that she could have stayed in the restroom trying to compose herself all night and still not have been ready. Carefully, she sucked in a breath and tried to steel herself. “Ok…” she said with trepidation, “I can do this. I can do anything.”

“That’s my girl,” Monique said and gave her a smile. Her friend then reached out and took Kim’s bag from her, reached inside and removed her lipstick. “Pucker up for me.”

She did so and allowed her best girl to touch up her lipstick.

Monique handed her bag back and held out her hand. “Ready to reel in a cute boy?”

Kim took the offered hand. “Yeah, let’s do this thing.”

They headed for the door. _I can do this. I can do anything… God, I **need** this to go well._

##

A light breeze blew through the street as Shego made her way back to the Blackbird. After forcing herself to endure Killigan spending the remainder of dinner talking about everything to do with golf, even though it had been self-inflicted, she had declined the offer of going back to the hotel at which he was staying to have a drink in the bar. She had held up her end of the wager, provided him with all the help she could on his Amy problem and given little Miss Go even more ammunition to fire at her in the process. So, had been done with the whole stupid affair. Entering the parking lot, she deactivated the motorbike’s security system and stowed the bottle of whisky he’d given her in one of the side boxes, the only silver lining from the evening. She was about to hop on when the image of Miss Go formed in her mind and she shuddered. _I am not going home and putting up with her all night!_

It was still relatively early; about nine-thirty and if she went home now, she’d end up sitting on the sofa trying to get drunk while fending off the pain in the ass that was the teal headband wearing version of herself. Even the presence of Ru-Ru would not likely deter the irritating bitch. Shego glanced behind her and out at the lively Middleton night-life scene. She was far too overdressed for Spritzers and after the disaster that had been Friday night, her liking for the place had soured somewhat, at least for the moment. The nightclubs too were out for the same reason. She wracked her brain, searching for somewhere she could go where she would not stick out like a sore thumb. A venue soon came to mind, _Bingo._ Re-activating the Blackbird’s security system, she made her way out of the lot. She might not have been a fan of jazz, she didn’t even own a single jazz record, but she could get behind it if the band was good and Heartbeats always had a good band playing.

Making her way through the semi-crowded streets, Shego drew the looks of several men, but a quick flash from her eyes convinced all of them not to even think about approaching her. Within ten minutes, she had arrived outside the entrance to the rather upmarket jazz bar. Even though it had a mezzanine floor, it was by no means the largest of venues and she was pleasantly surprised not to find a queue of people waiting outside to be allowed entry by the sharply dressed doorman. He opened the door for her and she stepped inside, her ears immediately filled with the sweet notes from a saxophone.

Shego cast her eyes around the ground floor and quickly deduced that all tables on this level were occupied. She passed by a pair of boys sat beside one another on a low sofa, the one opposite them empty but with drinks sitting on the table in front of it. She paid it no more heed than any of the other tables that had unoccupied seats. _So long as I don’t have to ask someone if I can sit at their table because I can’t be bothered making small talk with some random._ Making her way to the bar, she quickly caught the attention of the bartender and had him whip up an Aunt Roberta for her. She paid for it and then headed for the stairs up to the mezzanine floor. Fortunately, perhaps by some sort of divine intervention or just a pure fluke, she managed to snag a small round table with a pair of leather chairs; situated beside the rail overlooking the dancefloor, to herself. Slipping her jacket off, she tossed it on one chair and sat down on the other. Raising her glass, she took a sip of her cocktail and rolled it around her tongue. _Good, but not quite Spritzers good. I think the brandy isn’t quite up to scratch. However, it’s still perfectly drinkable._

Leaning back in her chair, she allowed the music to capture her attention as she sipped her drink. The combination proved effective at keeping little Miss Go at bay. She was actually beginning to relax when purely by chance, her gaze drifted out across the lower floor and found the pair of boys she had spotted when she had come in. Shego’s eyes widened when she saw the pair of girls that had just approached the table. Or rather, when she caught sight of the head of bright red hair sported by one of them. It might have been cut and styled differently from when she’d last seen it, but she would recognise those locks anywhere. _Shit, it can’t be…_ it was. The girl in question turned just enough for her to catch a glimpse of her face and the corner of a big olive-green eye. _Fuck off!_ she cursed internally. _Of all the sodden places you could have come, why the hell did you have to choose this one?_ She let out a longsuffering sigh. _Looks like fate’s screwed me over once again. Isn’t that right, Kimmie?_

##

Kim chose to focus on her breathing to try and keep both it and her heart rate in check, as Monique led her back around the dancefloor to where Dylan and Matt were sat. _I can do this, I can do anything,_ she repeated to herself. They were only a few meters away. _Ok, Kim, just be cool. You’re only asking him to dance with you._

“Hey, guys,” Monique said from beside her as they stopped in front of the table. “Sorry we took so long, but makeup can be such a pain in the butt sometimes. Isn’t that right, Kim?”

“Oh, umm, yeah,” she stammered in agreement, having been caught off guard by the question. _Damn it, focus, Possible._

Monique then flashed her a look that said, _“are you ready, Girl,”_ before turning back to the boys and saying “anyway, Kim and I were thinking…”

That was her cue. “…would you like to dance with us?” the words spilt out of her mouth far too quickly for her liking, but not to the point that they were unintelligible.

It was an often-overlooked fact that when girls excused themselves so they could go to the restroom to converse about whatever boys they might be socialising with, that it afforded the aforementioned individuals the opportunity to do the same. It was the result of this conversation that Kim witnessed when she watched Dylan and Matt exchange glances. The expression on the former’s face clearly telling the latter that while this might not have been the plan, he was not getting the option to refuse.

“Why not,” Dylan said casually, clearly trying to remain aloof. The boy gave his friend a pointed look as he stood up, succeeding in getting a slightly nervous-looking Matt up onto his feet.

Kim received another look from Monique, this one telling her that, _“Matt’s clearly slightly nervous because of the Kim Possible factor, so just relax and take things slowly.”_

 _I can do that,_ Kim thought as she watched Monique take Dylan by the hand and escort him out of the way, leaving Kim free to make her move. She gave Matt a warm smile. “Will you dance with me?” she asked, this time managing to keep her voice at a normal tone and speed. It took effort to stop her hand from shaking as she reached out for the boy’s.

“Sure,” the boy replied as he allowed her hand to take his own.

Kim felt the warmth and slightly clammy nature of the boy’s hand when it interlocked with her own. It told her that he was obviously nervous and it strangely reminded her of Ron when they had first danced on the night of their junior prom. _Must not think about Ron,_ she admonished internally. _That’s all in the past. Need to focus on the here and now._ She led Matt out onto the small but uncrowded dancefloor. A slow but consistent beat came from the drummer and bassist; while the sax and piano players noodled out a lazy dual between themselves. Slow worked just fine for Kim, for she was still sore in the rib region. She held Matt’s hands as they both moved somewhat awkwardly to the rhythm.

“So, do you do this often?” Matt asked, clearly trying to break some of the ice.

“No,” Kim replied and let out a somewhat forced laugh. “Am I really that bad?”

“No… I didn’t mean that… I…” the boy stammered quickly.

This time she actually did laugh. _He really is worried about offending or upsetting me. What does he think I’ll do? Throw him through a wall?_ “It’s ok. I know I’m bad. I’ve got busted ribs, remember?”

Matt visibly relaxed when she said that, then replied, “I guess it’s just me that’s genuinely bad then. I don’t have any injury to blame it on.”

They both laughed and continued to dance, albeit badly to the music. This was… _alright... Ok, so dancing with Matt is fine. Surely buying him a drink afterwards won’t be that difficult._ Unfortunately, Kim failed to notice something crucial about the whole situation. Dancing with a cute boy that seemed to genuinely like her had only measured as fine.

##

Shego scowled as she forced herself to avert her gaze from the hero, her friend and the two boys whom they had just engaged in conversation. Unfortunately, the moment it came to rest on the empty chair opposite her, an image of Miss Go sitting in it, teal headband and all, filled her mind.

 _“Well, if this isn’t an unexpected turn-up for the books? What were the odds that you’d come to the same place as Kimmie?”_ Miss Go said in an amused tone.

 _Shut up,_ Shego barked internally, unsure of which sight was worse, Princess or her own personal pain in the ass.

_“Ouch, someone’s tetchy…”_

_I’m not tetchy!_

_“Case and point, Cupcake.”_

Shego growled internally and took a sip of her drink. _Why does my luck suck so much?_

_“Personally, I think it has nothing to do with your luck. Rather, most of your misery is self-inflicted.”_

Her knuckles turned white around her glass and she bit back a response. Not wishing to get into yet another damn argument with little Miss Go.

Except it did nothing to stop that part of her brain from continuing, _“however, we’re not here to discuss your luck. And the fact that you inflict most of your misery upon yourself will have to wait for another day. We need to talk about the subject you’ve been trying to escape from for the last forty-eight hours; Kimmie.”_

_I don’t want to talk about fucking Princess. So, just leave me alone._

_“But you do,”_ Miss Go retorted. _“Friday night is clearly still bothering you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been so annoyed to discover that she’s here…”_

The words hung inside Shego’s mind, daring her to try and refute them, only she couldn’t. Her own thoughts from first seeing the hero were against her on that point. Meaning that the best she could fire back was, _she’s my nemesis. Of course I’d be annoyed at finding out that she’s drinking in the same place I am. It puts a right downer on what could have been a good night._

This only caused Miss Go to laugh. It was not an evil or cruel laugh, rather one of playful amusement. _“Really, that’s the best excuse you could come up with? Do you want me to sit and blow holes in it, or can we simply agree that it’s bullshit and move on?”_

 _Ok, fine, so I’m annoyed at the fact that she led me on all night on Friday, happy? Now can we just drop the whole thing so I can drink in peace?_ Shego emphasised this point by picking up her glass again and taking a long drink. _Damn, I’m going to need more of these and soon._ Unfortunately, to get to the bar, she would need to go past Kimmie. Something she did not relish. She cast her eyes around the mezzanine floor and caught sight of one of the bar staff out collecting empty glasses.

“Hey,” Shego said when he drew near.

“Yes, Miss?” the boy, who could not have been much older than twenty-one replied, as he looked her up and down.

“Eyes up here,” she commanded when his gaze lingered on her breasts.

A fearful look filled his eyes when he met her piercing stare. “I was just…” he stammered.

“You were staring at my tits,” Shego said firmly, giving him zero wiggle room. “Now, I was going to offer you money to be my little bartender for the evening. But since you seem to have already gotten your money’s worth by ogling me, you’re going to serve me for free, understand?”

The boy shook slightly under the intensity of her glare as he quickly nodded his head.

“Good. Now, go get me an Aunt Roberta and be quick about it, I’ll be watching.”

“Yes, Miss,” he said and scampered off towards the stairs.

She laughed as she watched him go. _Well, that solves that problem._

 _“Don’t you think that was a bit harsh?”_ Miss Go admonished.

_You’re all about teaching, aren’t you? This will teach him that it’s not ok to ogle woman and treat them like objects._

For once, Shego got the satisfaction of seeing a ponderous look on Miss Go’s face, before the woman replied, _“you make an excellent point. Now, shall we get back to the matter at hand?”_

She groaned, her momentary reprieve seemingly just that. _What will it take for me to be rid of you?_

 _“Death. I’m an integral part of you, remember?”_ Miss Go replied with an air of smugness. “ _What you meant to ask was, what will it take to make me less annoying?”_

That comment prompted her to finish the rest of her first drink. Her gaze drifted to the ground floor, but instead of finding the waiter and her new drink, it came to rest on Kimmie and the boy she was dancing with. _See, two nights after leading me on and Princess is out with some boy. Ergo, she likes boys, case closed._

 _“Except you’re only seeing what you want to see, not what’s actually there,”_ Miss Go interjected.

She rolled her eyes. _Oh, do enlighten me,_ she thought with the same level of sarcasm that was normally reserved for Dr Drakken.

_“Look at how awkward Kimmie is.”_

Shego focused her gaze on the girl, however, made sure that she remained inconspicuous. The last thing she wanted was for Princess to spot her. That could easily lead to explosive complications. Kimmie was moving awkwardly, her movements lacking the grace and finesse that they normally had when the two of them were fighting. Only, she had an alternate theory on that one. _I hit her with a few decent blows on Friday, not to mention when she landed after that vortex throw. That would explain why she’s got no rhythm._

 _“It’s a fair point,”_ Miss Go conceded. _“But is probably only a contributing factor. Take a look at her face, especially those eyes. You’ve probably seen about every emotion imaginable in them over the years. What do they currently say to you?”_

She had to crane her neck more than she wanted to and wait until the couple moved slightly closer before she got a close enough look. After a quick glance, she hastily retreated, just in case the girl happened to look up.

_“Well, what did you see?”_

_She’s uncertain, confused almost…_

_“And why might she be confused?”_ Miss Go asked. _“What might she be trying to prove by coming out and dancing with a boy?”_

_…_

_“What, afraid to answer the question? Or is this whole situation, the expression on her face, giving you a sense of déjà vu?”_

_…_

“Your drink, Miss.”

The sound of the barboy’s voice snapped Shego out of her internalised debate and she started at the glass that had just been set down on her table. “Good boy,” she then replied, recovering enough to impart a sort of goodwill for a dog in training in her tone. She reached into her bag and withdrew money from her purse with which to pay him.

The boy took the offered note and was about to scurry off when…

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” she admonished dryly.

He stopped and looked sheepishly at her, but said nothing.

She looked between him and the empty glass on the table. It took a few seconds for him to understand the message, however, the second he did, he hastily snatched it from the surface.

“Now, be a good boy and come back in twenty minutes as I might be in need of another drink.”

“Yes, Miss,” he replied, but this time waited to be dismissed.

Shego picked up her fresh drink and then offhandedly said, “shoo.”

Like a magician performing a magic trick, the boy vanished from her sight. She took a sip of her second Aunt Roberta.

_“So, where were we…”_

##

The rather long jazz noodling came to a close and Kim let out an exhale, feeling a slight stab of protest from her ribs. _Ok, note to self, if there’s going to be a next time tonight, try and pick a shorter song._ She caught Matt’s eye and before the band had the chance to strike up their next number, she quickly asked, “can I buy you a drink?” recalling Monique’s four-step plan.

“Sure,” Matt replied. He sounded much more relaxed now that they had spent the past five-plus minutes in close proximity to each other; hands joined. “Are your ribs ok?”

“Yeah,” Kim lied. While the note of concern was touching and probably a sign that he might genuinely be a nice guy, she did not care for it. _I don’t need people to worry about me. I can take care of myself._

Still holding the boy by the hand, she led him off of the dancefloor and towards the bar. They joined onto the end of the short queue and she did not fail to notice that Monique had kept Dylan on the dancefloor for the next song. As they waited to be served, Kim could not help but have a thought slip into her mind, _did I enjoy myself there?_

A voice from the depths of her mind swiftly replied, _“of course you did. You were dancing with a cute boy.”_

 _Yeah… I was… and it was… fun._ She had the thought but it felt somewhat hollow. _Maybe it’s because my ribs hurt and I’m not feeling one-hundred-percent. Yeah, that must be it. I’ll feel much better once we’re sat back down at the table._

The voice boomed in agreement, _“of course you will. And remember, you want him to kiss you. Boys kiss girls.”_

_Yeah, boys kiss girls and I like boys…_

They reached the front of the queue and the barman gave her a smile of recognition. “What can I get you, Miss Possible?”

 _Well, if there was any chance Matt didn’t know who I am before, he does now._ However, she drew no attention to the man’s use of her surname and simply replied, “I’ll have a mojito and,” she turned to the boy beside her, “what would you like?”

“Can I have a Corona with a wedge of lime,” the boy replied.

Kim gave him a smile as they waited for their drinks. “Is that what you normally drink?”

“You mean when Dylan isn’t badgering me to try the latest cocktail he’s discovered?”

She laughed, “yeah.”

He nodded, “yeah. I much prefer beer. I’ve never felt the need to vomit while drinking one.”

“What cocktail gave you such a bad experience?”

Matt shuddered. “Something called a zombie, if you’ve ever heard of it.”

At the mention of another of the drinks that Shego had consumed on one of their two nights out, her mind quickly conjured up an image of the green-skinned woman. The second she received a wink, she tried to force it out of her mind. “I’ve heard of it,” she then replied quickly. Hoping that the conversation would help to rid her of the unwanted intrusion in her mind by Shego. “But I’ve never tried one.”

“Take my advice, don’t,” Matt warned. “There’s so much alcohol in it, I almost threw up after one sip.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kim said, however, the thought that ran through her brain was, _lightweight._ She did not know where it had come from, but nonetheless, it had.

The barman set their drinks down on the bar and she reached into her pocket for her purse so she could pay him. She then picked them up, handed Matt his bottle of Corona and led the way back to the sofa. _Ok, here comes stage three. It’s only sitting down beside him. I can do that. I can do anything._ Stopping beside one of the sofas, she indicated with her hand for Matt to sit down first. Seemingly far more settled now, the boy did so and showed no sign of nerves when she slipped in beside him. Something that was in complete contrast to how Kim felt internally. _Holy crap, I can’t believe I’m doing this… get a grip, Possible. You’re not a high school kid anymore. You can sit down beside a boy without turning into a gibbering wreck._ Taking a semi-deep breath, because she wanted to avoid both a coughing fit and Matt noticing, she sat down.

##

Shego’s gaze had drifted back down to the ground floor and was now following Kimmie as she finished dancing with her random boy.

 _“She’s not comfortable around him, despite what she might be trying to tell herself and you know why,”_ Miss Go said, almost like she was whispering in her ear. _“You recognise this scene because you’ve seen it all before.”_

 _There is no way for you to know that for sure,_ Shego replied, not taking her eyes off of Kimmie, who had just led the boy around to the bar.

_“True, but I’m willing to put a bet on the fact that I’m right **and** that we’ll get proof of it soon enough.”_

She took a sip of her drink. If the little Miss Go part of her brain seemed so convinced, it probably meant that she was right. She sighed, _fine, you’re right. This scenario does bear a lot of similarities to when I went out with that boy to try and prove to myself that I was straight._

_“And we both know how that turned out.”_

_Eventually,_ Shego corrected. _While it may have been the catalyst that set me off down the path towards acceptance, I seem to recall that I continued to deny it for a while, then went through anger, fear and bargaining before I finally reached that point._

 _“I remember. Back then, you wore the teal headband and I was the stubborn hard-ass. I had you in denial for months before then and even after that disaster of a date, I kept you in each of the subsequent stages for weeks on end,”_ Miss Go said.

Shego shuddered at the reminder of just how long it had taken her to come to terms with the fact she was a lesbian. The level of emotional turmoil that she had endured had been almost unbearable. _No one deserves to go through the hell I did._

A smile formed on Miss Go’s face and Shego had a bad feeling she had just fallen into another one of the woman’s pitfall traps. _“I’m glad you remember how difficult and how long it took you to reach acceptance.”_

 _Why?_ She had a bad feeling she was not going to like what came next.

_“Because now you know exactly how Kimmie’s probably been feeling recently. How scared she might have become on Friday night and why she flirted with you, but when it came down to it, dumped a bucket of cold water over you.”_

Shego growled and took a drink of her Aunt Roberta. She’d been afraid that it had been that particular pitfall trap that Miss Go had been leading her into. _I seem to recall that back in the day, you were never this manipulative._

_“Well, you eventually cornered the market when it came to hard-ass-ness, so I had to find a different way of getting through to you. However, for now, why don’t you sit and watch Kimmie. I think you’ll learn all you need to.”_

She did not want to acquiesce to Miss Go’s suggestion but found that her eyes were glued to her rival, who had just sat down beside the boy on a sofa. She could only hope that Kimmie was too busy to notice that she was being watched.

##

Sitting forward, almost on the lip of the sofa, Kim uneasily sipped her mojito. The whole situation made her feel like she was on the edge of a cliff and that the next few minutes would determine whether she found her balance and managed to step away from the precipice, or plummeted down into the dark unknown. Beside her, slouched against the back of the sofa with his arm running along the top, Matt drank from his bottle of Corona. She snuck a glance towards him and what felt like a warm, open invitation for her to get closer to him. _He really is a nice guy,_ she thought. _He’s not pushy, he’s kind, considerate and patient. Everything a woman should want in a man. Not to mention cute. So why don’t I…_

A voice boomed from the depths of her mind, _“because it’s been so long since you’ve actually been with someone. You need to get closer to him and have him kiss you. Remember, boys kiss girls.”_

 _Boys kiss girls,_ Kim agreed, _and I like boys._ She took as deep a breath as she dared, followed by another drink of her mojito. _Ok, Possible, if you’re going to do this thing, you need to do it now._ She took another breath, set her glass down on the low table and scooched back on the sofa. Her gaze then turned to look at Matt. “Hi,” she said softly, having to force her voice not to waver. She inched closer to him and he gave no objection.

“Hi yourself,” Matt replied playfully.

While he might have been acting the perfect gentleman, she could see the desire in his eyes. _Oh my god, he genuinely wants me._ She had to quickly cast the thought aside. While that was a good thing and should undoubtedly help matters, this was about her. Kim’s thigh brushed against Matt’s as she moved within the reach of his arm. She looked him straight in those bright chocolate brown eyes. “I’ve got a question.”

“Ok…” Matt replied with slight trepidation. She had a feeling that the boy knew what she intended to ask and that this was again a manifestation of the ‘Kim Possible’ factor, as Monique had dubbed it.

 _Ok, Kim, here goes nothing. I can do this. I can do anything._ While she uttered this thought inside her head, her nerves felt shot and a cauldron of anxiety had built up inside her. _I **need** this to go well. I like boys! _With sweaty palms and a bad feeling that all her limbs were shaking, Kim finally managed to ask her question, “do you want to kiss me?”

She saw the response in Matt’s eyes before his lips even moved to utter the word, “yes,” in a slightly shaky manner. Chalk another one up for the ‘Kim Possible’ factor.

Kim leaned in towards Matt. _I can do this. I can do anything._ There gazes intertwined as her lips drew closer to his. She could feel his warm breath against her face and caught a whiff of fresh grass and leather from his aftershave. Then their lips touched. She felt the slightly chapped crags of the boy’s brush against her own soft, warm ones as they kissed. They parted for only the briefest of moments before they kissed again. However, she could not ignore the distinct lack of spark… of magic. So, naturally, she dug deeper. Slipping her tongue out of her mouth and pressing it against Matt’s lips, Kim waited for a moment for him to grant her entry into his mouth. As she began to run her tongue over his teeth, she felt his arms wrap around her torso and a hand begin to snake its way up her back. Immediately, her brain tried to yell, _wait, I didn’t sign up for this!_ but she roughly shoved it to the side. _I **need** this to go well. I **need** to feel something. _She returned the gesture in kind and brought one of her hands around and into his thick chocolate brown hair. Matt deepened the kiss and soon their tongues were interlocked in a dual as they slid back and forward between their mouths.

Enveloped in Matt’s warm embrace, Kim felt his body move and before she knew what was happening, he had rolled them over so that her back was against the sofa and he on top. The movement had caught her by surprise, but she felt no forcefulness behind it, otherwise, she probably would have kicked him off immediately. However, Kim could not shake the feeling that, while she was unquestionably engaged in the act, she was simply a disengaged spectator.

##

Shego watched on in horror from her seat in the gallery, as Kimmie kissed this random boy and she felt a flash of anger that was almost enough to ignite her glow. She wanted to tear her eyes away from the scene but found she could not. Having to sit and watch someone else… some **boy** , make out with the girl dug up all the feelings that she had felt in the run-up to Friday’s disastrous non-date. And they boiled down to one simple thing, she had wanted Princess all to herself.

 _“So, going to tell me that I was wrong about how you feel about Kimmie and how she’s currently feeling,”_ Miss Go said smugly.

 _Shut up,_ Shego fired back. Only she could no longer refute the woman’s claims. She’d wanted Kimmie badly… possibly still did. However, that only caused a reflex flash of anger, s _crew Kimmie!_

Miss Go rolled her eyes, _“just watch…”_

She watched the boy roll himself and Princess over, giving her a clear view of the girl’s eyes.

 _“You see it, don’t you,”_ Miss Go said with a hint of pity in her voice, although Shego knew it was not meant for her.

In the face of such damming evidence, she could not refute the claim. For she saw it clear as day; the awkwardness and uncertainty in Kimmie’s eyes. However, that only made the whole situation worse and her anger intensified. This **boy** was snogging the girl and she clearly was not into it. She picked up her glass and quickly downed the last of her drink.

 _“What are you doing?”_ Miss Go asked in alarm.

Shego picked up her bag and stood up. **_If_** _you’re right and Princes is having trouble with her sexuality, she needs a helping hand to steer her in the right direction._ While she phrased it as an if, she knew there was no if about it. She’d been there. Been Kimmie in the same situation; many years ago, and knew the difficult road that lay ahead of her rival. From the chair opposite, she grabbed her coat.

_“What do you plan on doing?”_

Making her way across the mezzanine floor, she reached the stairs and quickly descended. _I’m going to prove something to her and hopefully kick her but out of denial and into stage two._

Given that she was part of Shego’ brain, Miss Go did not need to wait on a more detailed answer to know exactly what she planned to do. _“This is a bad idea. You’re only going to enrage her and push her further away.”_

If her brain had not been clouded with anger, perhaps Shego would have agreed and decided on a different course of action. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Walking around the edge of the dancefloor, en-route to the exit, she passed by the sofa upon which Kimmie and her new friend were snogging. Lighting a single finger, she formed a small orb of green plasma, no bigger than a ping-pong ball and flicked it in the direction of the boy’s back. She knew her glow and the range of her plasma well. A ball that size, travelling over that distance, would probably be no bigger than a marble by the time it hit its target. But, it would do exactly what she wanted it to.

##

Kim could feel the waves of unease and awkwardness cascade over her as she forced herself to keep making out with Matt. _I **NEED** this to go well, _her brain kept trying to tell her. Unfortunately, she could not keep ignoring the mounting feeling of wrongness. _It’s just because it’s been so long since I kissed someone. I’m just nervous, unsure… scared of suffering the same pain that I did when I broke up with Ron… I like boys…_ That last thought had come almost as a plead to whatever god might be listening. However, it was soon driven completely from her mind, when a smell of burning suddenly filled her nostrils. Her body froze and she quickly ceased all interaction with Matt.

Her sudden disengagement, caused the boy to stop. “Is there something wrong, Kim?” he asked in a concerned tone.

Less than a second later, she felt a sharp rising heat against the back of her arm, which was wrapped around the boy’s shoulders. Then she saw the flames. Matt’s jumper was on fire!

The boy must have felt it too, as he suddenly yelled, “HOLY SHIT!” and leapt off of her.

Kim’s eyes took in the green-tinged orange flame that had started to lick the edges of the boy’s jumper and she dived up off the sofa and grabbed hold of him, using her momentum to send them both crashing to the floor. Matt yelled, but she ignored him as she forced his back to the ground. Like she herself was aflame, she rolled them back and forth; the flame quickly dying out. The second it did, her eyes shot up into the crowd that had turned its collective eyes upon them; Monique and Dylan already darting towards them. However, she gave them only a cursory glance as she scanned the room. Then she saw it. Long raven tresses flowing down the back of a green dress as the woman made her way out the door. She knew that hair all too well. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Kim knew that there was a choice to make, however, it had already been made the second she saw the green tinge to the flames.

“SHEGO!” she yelled as she jumped to her feet. She felt a slight stab of pain from her ribs, but it was quickly overridden by the burst of adrenaline that hit the second she broke into a run.

From behind her, she heard Monique yell, “Kim, where the hell are you going?” but she ignored her best girl.

Expertly dodging through the crowd, she darted for the exit. Bursting through the bar’s double doors, she spilt out into the cooling night air, her gaze rapidly scanning the street for any sign of Shego. Unfortunately, the sidewalk was too crowded for her to adequately see through. Running out into the road she came to an abrupt stop. Her head snapped from side to side, eventually catching sight of long black raven hair moving swiftly through the crowd and towards the curb. “SHEGO!” Kim yelled again and broke out into a run.

Having slipped through the crowd with ease, a thin smile formed on Shego’s lips when she heard Kimmie’s voice yell her name. Instantaneously, she increased speed and darted across the road. _That’s it, Princess, we both know you won’t give up until you catch me. So let’s take this away from prying eyes._

Kim saw her rival head into an alley and forced her battered body to go faster. _I’m not going to lose her._ She had no clue why Shego had been in Heartbeats, what her intention had been by setting Matt’s jumper on fire and she did not care. This was personal.

Shego cut her way through the streets on her way to the parking lot where she had left the Blackbird; Kimmie in hot pursuit. When she eventually got there, she had enough time to walk to the far end and deactivate the motorbike’s security system before she heard the hero’s footsteps ring in her ears from the entrance.

“Shego!” Kim exclaimed yet again when she saw that the woman had stopped. Her breathing was ragged and her ribs hurt like hell, but all that paled in comparison to the adrenaline that coursed through her body and the thrill that had come from the chase.

“Well, lookie who decided to show up,” Shego replied airily, as she lazily turned around to face her opponent. “You’re getting slow, Kimmie.” She knew it wasn’t true, that the hero was carrying at least one injury from their fight on Friday, but couldn’t resist the jibe.

“Not only did you have a head start, but my boots have heels,” Kim fired back. She hadn’t dropped into a guard yet, however, she felt the desire nonetheless. It might only have been two days since their last fight, but she was ready to do it all over again.

Shego laughed as she lifted a foot to show off the thin three-inch heels on her shoes. “Like I said, you’re getting slow, Princess.”

Kim grit her teeth and knew she had no choice but to concede the point; lest she betray the fact she was carrying an injury. “What the hell, Shego,” she spat, changing the subject and allowing her anger to rise to the surface. “Matt hasn’t done anything to you and could have been seriously hurt!”

“Is that his name,” Shego snorted. “I’m surprised you even remember.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The green-skinned woman completely ignored the interruption. Instead, she continued with her initial point, “however, I don’t think you can comment about whether or not he’s hurt.”

“What?” Kim exclaimed in confusion. “You set his jumper on fire. He could have seriously been hurt!”

“Don’t you mean, **might** be seriously hurt?”

A blank expression formed on Kim’s face, no idea what her rival was getting at. “What’s your point?”

An amused laugh escaped from Shego’s lips. _Kimmie’s still clueless, guess it’s time to fill her in._ “You probably only had just enough time to put that fire out before you set off after me. Definitely not enough to properly check to see if he was ok.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kim yelled, her fists clenching as she prepared to jump into battle.

“It means you care far more about yours truly than you do that poor sap you were using…”

“That’s absolutely ridiculous!”

“Is it, Kimmie?” Shego asked, for once her tone holding no hint of sarcasm or anything that could be construed as mocking. “Instead of making sure that he was ok, you came after me.”

Kim’s knuckles turned white and she had to restrain herself from leaping at her rival there and then. “I came after you because someone has to bring you to justice. Matt was innocent and you could have seriously hurt him!”

The green-skinned woman laughed again. “Hate to break it to you, Princess, but that’s a load of bullshit. You came after me because you would rather be here, fighting me, than back in the bar snogging him.”

Shego’s words were like a hammer blow to the flimsy excuse that Kim had tried to peddle. And she could not deny that she felt more of a thrill, more excitement, as she prepared to face off against her rival than she had while making out with Matt. _No… I couldn’t have chased after her because I’d rather be here than snogging Matt… could I?_

From the dark depths of Kim’s mind, a voice boomed, _“don’t listen to that villainous bitch. You like boys and she purposefully ruined the first Kiss you’ve had since Ron.”_

 _Yeah, you’re right,_ Kim agreed. _I was having fun and she went and ruined it!_ She fixed Shego with a determined glare. “You just can’t hack it because you like girls and I’m not interested! So you had to ruin my evening because you got jealous!”

Shego almost doubled over in a bout of laughter as she listened to

her opponent’s sheer denial. _Sorry, Princess, but it’s time to burst your little bubble._ “This isn’t about me, Kimmie, not this time. This is all about you and the fact you can’t accept the fact that you like girls.”

“I do not!” Kim yelled viciously. “I like boys!” And with that, she sprang into action. Darting forward, she brought up her guard and lashed out at the green-skinned woman with a quick front-snap-kick, turning-kick, side-kick combo.

Shego had been ready for such an outburst, expected it even and had her guard up in time to block each of Kimmie’s kicks. Ironically, for once, she didn’t want to fight the girl. For that would give her opponent exactly what she wanted. Unfortunately, she had known that it would be an inevitability. She returned fire with a turning-kick, hook-kick, inward-axe-kick combo of her own.

Kim blocked her rival’s first two kicks and skirted around the third, quickly retaliating with a turning-kick. The green-skinned woman ducked underneath it, so she used the momentum to transition into a reverse turning kick with the other foot, but it was blocked. She then had to go on the defensive as Shego had stepped in towards her exposed back and lashed out with a fore-fist-punch. The only thing she could do was front flip out of range.

Unlike in their previous fights, Shego did not immediately pursue Kimmie when she flipped away from her. Instead, she took the opportunity to say, “I’ve been watching you since you returned from the little girls' room with your friend.”

“Her name’s Monique,” Kim growled as she spun around to face her opponent once more. _Why didn’t she pursue me?_ She asked the question of herself but was thankful for the breather. She received a sharp stab of pain from her ribs at having done the front flip.

“Don’t care,” Shego replied, waiting from Kimmie to come at her again. “The point is, I’ve seen how awkward you’ve been with that boy. Even if you’re not willing to admit…” she did not get the chance to finish as the hero leapt at her with a jumping-front-kick combo; only two kicks instead of the four that the girl had recently been rattling off.

Kim landed back on the ground after having had her kicks hit nothing but air; Shego having quickly stepped backwards. She felt the anger build inside her again. _How dare she sit and watch me!_ She fired off a twin turning-kick-reverse-turning-kick combo, only still could not land a blow. This time her opponent had jumped well out of range. “What’s wrong, Shego? Unable to fight in your heels?” she yelled in irritation at her opponents uncharacteristically defensive approach.

Where normally she would rise to the bait, Shego allowed the comment to slide. “Why don’t you just admit it, Kimmie? You like girls. That’s the real reason you chased after me. You enjoy spending time with me because it’s easy. It feels right. Unlike how wrong your little make-out session with little Matty was.”

“SHUT UP!” Kim roared at the top of her voice and she broke into a run. She felt another stab of protest from her ribs but forced herself to ignore it. The moment Shego was within range, she lashed out with a side-kick, which was quickly blocked, that she transitioned into a turning-kick-hook-kick combo.

Shego ducked under the first kick, knew what was about to follow and sensed the opportunity to put an end to the fight. Rising upwards, she caught Kimmie’s hook-kick with a fierce outward sweeping forearm-block. 

The force of the blow sent Kim’s kicking leg spiralling to the ground and destabilised her planted foot. Unfortunately, the split second it took her to prevent herself from falling over, gave her opponent the perfect opening. Everything then happened in a heartbeat.

Kimmie’s guard in limbo, Shego sent a vicious turning-kick directed at the hero’s right-hand ribs

Kim saw the kick whiz in towards the sight of her latest injury but was helpless to stop it. A thought of, _OH SHIT!_ flew through her mind as she tried to brace herself for impact; for the torrent of pain she knew was about to be unleashed upon her the instant Shego’s foot made contact. Involuntarily, her eyes screwed up slightly, _OH SHIT…_ but the blow never came. She gazed, frozen to the spot as she saw her rival’s foot mere millimetres from her ribs.

To say it was uncharacteristic for Shego to have pulled her kick at the last second would be like saying both she and her opponent were mildly stubborn. She’d known that Kimmie would be carrying an injury in that exact spot, having been the one to inflict it upon her in the first place and that a fierce kick would probably break the girl’s remaining ribs and put an end to the fight. But, while it had been slight, she had seen the girl flinch. Knew that Princess was well aware of the pain headed her way. And so, for some reason that she wasn’t really aware of, she had pulled the kick at the last possible moment. Unfortunately, one look at Kimmie’s face told her that the girl would rather have taken the full force of the blow.

Kim’s eyes gazed at her rival’s foot as a torrent of thoughts and emotions exploded inside her. _Why did she stop? I can’t believe that she pulled that kick._ A wave of outrage burst through everything, _how dare she! I screwed up and should be in a heap on the floor, writhing in agony right now._ She met Shego’s emerald eyes and could see what she knew could only be some screwed up form of sympathy. _Who does she think she is, showing me mercy like I’m some wounded animal! I don’t want her pity!_ The anger that coursed through Kim then exploded in a savage outburst. “YOU BITCH!”

The next series of movements occurred in another heartbeat. Kim grabbed the leg Shego had kicked with and instantly twisted her body. With all the force she could muster, the hero brought her other elbow through the air and down towards the green-skinned woman’s knee. The blow would have unquestionably shattered Shego’s joint had she not been prepared for this eventuality. In one swift movement, she swept Kim’s elbow up and out, just before it made contact. The red-haired vixen’s guard blown wide open; she delivered a palm-heel to her sternum with her other hand. The strike was powerful enough that Kim was forced to release her rival’s foot. She staggered and could do nothing to stop Shego from catching her legs with a foot sweep. Falling backwards, Kim’s butt hit the asphalt as she landed on her back. And before she could even move, Shego’s foot had found her throat.

“It’s over, Princess,” the green-skinned woman said firmly, applying light pressure the moment she saw her opponent’s hands move.

Kim gasped and allowed her hands to fall to the ground, knowing that Shego could crush her windpipe in a heartbeat. A wave of embarrassment and humiliation crashed down upon her at how easily she had been defeated. In hindsight, it had been downright idiotic to engage her rival in a fight so soon after having suffered the injury to her ribs. Unfortunately, Shego could get under her skin in a way no-one else could.

Shego took Kimmie’s hands falling to her sides as a sign that the girl had done the smart thing and yielded. _Good thing she hasn’t figured out that I won’t actually kill her._ She then locked onto the girl’s olive-green eyes with a piercing stare. She took absolutely zero pleasure at having beaten her opponent in this fashion. Princess was still carrying a not-insignificant injury from their last bout and so it had been easy. A victory against Kim Possible was only worthwhile if she managed it with the hero at full strength. “Go home, Kimmie,” Shego then said firmly. “Go home and actually think about how awkward your little make-out session was. And how much you prefer spending time with me. Who knows, you might actually manage to pull yourself out of denial.”

“Fuck… you,” Kim spat with difficulty. “I… like… boys!” Suddenly the pressure on her throat vanished as Shego backflipped out of view. With great effort, owing to the rapidly ebbing adrenaline and the pain radiating from her ribs, she picked herself up. Yet despite all this, like a dog with a bone, she still had every intention of going after her rival. She cast her gaze over the lot and caught sight of the green-skinned woman climbing aboard a motorbike. “SHEGO!” she yelled as she made to break into a run, only a stab of pain from her ribs turned it into more of a stumble.

“Go home, Kimmie,” Shego called out as she turned the ignition and the bike roared into life. Wasting no time, she selected first gear, kicked up the stand and zoomed past the hero and out of the lot. She caught the look of outrage form on the girl’s face and her own lips morphed into a thin smile. Wind rushing through her raven hair, a final thought crossed her mind as she sped off into the night, _welcome to stage two, Kimmie; anger._

Ribs hurting like hell and a Molotov cocktail of anger, rage and infuriation coursing through her, Kim staggered off in the direction that Shego had gone and out of the parking lot. Unlike her rival, a maelstrom of thoughts and emotions crashed around inside her. However, a particularly vicious one managed to rise above the others. _I’m going to get you for this, Shego. The second you spring up somewhere, I’m going to tear you down. You can count on it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear, Kimmie. Seems like you bit off a little more than you could chew this time around. However, I suspect you'll get a shot at vengeance at a later point in the story. 
> 
> While I know some of you were probably hoping that Killigan was going to get himself some serious plasma burns or bitten by Ru-Ru, I needed to use that scene for an alternate purpose, namely to get the ball rolling in Shego's head that she might have been a bit harsh on Kim. 
> 
> In terms of the last chapter, while the events and the outcome didn't change too much from my initial plan, the motivations did and even required further tweaking after I wrote the first two chapters of the next update. However, I'm quite happy with how it turned out and with how I wove the two subplots I generated in the last update back into the main plot. I really do think it's helped to further deepen the story as we move towards the event I alluded to in my final endnote of the last update, which we are still on course for. But again, I'm giving no timescales. 
> 
> For the next update, I'm going to say that there will definitely be three chapters (I've written two already), but it might be four. It'll all just depend on where I think we're at once I've written the next chapter and how many chunks are left between there and said big event.
> 
> Anyway, thank you all again for taking the time to read this story and for all your wonderful support, I can't thank all of you enough. Stay safe and I should hopefully see you all next week for our next dose of And You And I.
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


	26. I can't breathe anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good evening and if you're just joining us, we have another triple bill of And You And I for you tonight... too much? Meh, moving swiftly on.
> 
> As always, before we begin, I need to give a huge thank you to everyone who has left me Kudos and comments. I hope you are all still enjoying reading this story as much as I am writing it. 
> 
> As you may have already guessed, I have three chapters for you this time. Wait, didn't you say that you had already written two before you posted the last update, I hear you cry. Yes, you are absolutely right, I did. So, why then has it taken you almost a full week to write one measly chapter, I now hear you ask. Well, I've actually written three and a half this week. *pause for discontented grumbling.* Wait, what? Then where the hell are they, you lousy author bum! Ok, if you all put away the pitchforks and torches, I'll explain. As you have all probably gathered by now, I have a tendency to turn one chapter into six. This is sort of what has happened this time too. I only had a brief outline for what was going to happen in this update and when I started writing it (specifically Kim's side) I realised that I was going to have to add an extra 2-3 chapters for everything to make logical sense (more details on that at the end). I have also done some thinking about where we're headed and I think I'm going to need a little more time to hammer out the details and then write the chapters that will take us to this 'major' event I keep banging on about. So, my choice was either finish the chapter I am currently working on tonight, give you all six tomorrow and then leave you for two weeks, or give you three tonight and three next week. In the end, I decided the former was a better option, hence three chapters tonight and three next week. That should give me enough time to figure things out and get writing for the update in two weeks time. Sound fair? *pause for more discontented grumbling.* GET HIM!! *army of pitchfork and torch-carrying readers chase after the author.*
> 
> On a more relevant note, the title for this first chapter, I can't breathe anymore, is a track from David Gilmour's (read Pink Floyd) self-titled debut solo album. Sounds a bit ominous though, right? Don't worry its purely a nice metaphor for how Kim is feeling when at home. I hope you all enjoy and I'll see you all over the page for chapter 27.

The slightly cooler night air caught in Kim’s chest as she sucked in a breath of air and she broke out into a coughing fit. The pain radiating from her right-hand ribs flared up again at the uncontrollable action, almost causing her to double over. The adrenaline from her brief fight with Shego had already ebbed and she felt exhausted, weak... vulnerable. For a moment all she could do was stand still, for any other movement would likely send her crashing back to the asphalt. With difficulty, she sucked in a breath that did not cause her to cough. _Well, that was monumentally stupid of me,_ she admonished internally. However, she knew fine well that she would not have done anything differently. The pull of chasing Shego, of facing off against her, had been far too great to resist. Unfortunately, as much as she hated to admit it, the green-skinned woman had been right. Their brief fight, despite the fact she had been injured, had been more exhilarating than when she had been making out with Matt. _What the hell does that even mean?_ Her anger and indignation at having been beaten so easily quickly overrode that thought. _Screw Shego! The first time I kiss a boy since Ron and she goes and ruins it. As soon as I’m back in top shape, that bitch is going down!_

Kim glanced around, unsure of where the green-skinned woman had led her. After a few moments, she recognised the street. While she felt the driving urge to chase Shego, she had no means by which to follow. Grudgingly, she had to accept the cold hard facts of the matter; her rival was gone. Except coming to that conclusion left her with the issue of where to go or what to do now. _I suppose I should head back to Heartbeats and make sure everyone is ok._ She had just figured out the quickest route back to the bar when a voice called out to her.

“Kim!” It was Monique.

Turning her head, she caught sight of her best girl walking towards her. “Hey, Mo,” she replied, forcing herself to look and sound as normal as she could. The last thing she needed was for the girl to find out about her current pain level and telephone her mom.

Her friend looked her up and down, before asking, “are you ok?”

Kim could hear the note of concern in her voice and so replied firmly, “I’m fine,” then quickly changed the subject, “but Shego got away.”

Seemingly satisfied that there was nothing wrong with her, the expression on Monique’s face hardened somewhat. “It’s not Shego I care about, Kim.”

The slightly harsh nature of her best girl’s tone caught her slightly by surprise and so Kim quickly tried to reassure her that she would deal with the matter. “Don’t worry about it, Mo. I’ll have Wade keep an eye out for her and go after her the moment she pops up. I’ll have her in jail within a week or two, so she won’t be able to hurt anyone else, promise.”

Much to her surprise, this did nothing to placate her friend and if anything, Monique’s expression darkened. “I don’t give a shit about Shego, Kim, and neither should you.”

Taken aback by the scathing remark and confused as to why her friend did not seem to care, she responded with the only thing she could think of, “it’s no big, Mo, honest. She’s dangerous, but once I’m back to full strength, I can take her down without getting hurt.” _Not likely, but I can take anything she can throw at me and still beat her._

Monique shook her head in what looked like disbelief. “You just don’t get it, do you, Kim?”

A blank expression formed on her face as she replied in confusion, “get what?”

“Matt’s going to be fine, thanks for asking,” her best girl spat, a look of outrage beginning to form on her face. “The paramedics arrived and checked him over. He’s got a slight burn to his mid-back, but other than that, he’s going to be fine. Not that you seem to care.”

“Whoa, Mo,” Kim said incredulity. “Why are you so angry all of a sudden? I’m glad Matt’s going to be ok.”

“Are you, Kim? Do you genuinely care or are you just saying that for the sake of social convention? Because your actions say something completely different.”

Her mouth fell open and she stared at her best girl in shock. “Where’s all this coming from, Mo?” she eventually managed to ask; completely stunned by the manner in which her best girl was speaking to her. _What the hell have I done to piss her off so much?_

“Do I have to spell it out to you, Kim? You did your hero thing, leapt into action to put that fire out, which is great and probably stopped Matt from being seriously hurt. But then you tore off after Shego without even stopping to see if he was ok.”

“I went after her because someone needed to catch her and try to bring her in,” Kim fired back indignantly. “What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong with it?” Monique yelled in frustration; her firsts clenching by her sides. “The boy you were supposed to be getting to know could have been seriously injured, yet you chose to go chasing after Shego instead of making sure he was ok.”

“But you and Dylan were there,” she countered, still not understanding what on earth the girl was getting at.

“That’s not the point! Ok, so you only just met Matt tonight, but normal people don’t just abandon others when something serious happens to them and they might be hurt. We stay and make sure they’re ok. If the perpetrator gets away, then so be it. But you had to chase off after Shego.”

On hearing her best girl’s words, those of Shego herself rang in Kim’s ears, _“instead of making sure he was ok, you came after me.”_ That was exactly what she had done. The second she knew the fire had gone out, her gaze had started scanning the crowd for the green-skinned woman and the moment she had caught sight of her long raven hair, she’d tore off after her; not even pausing to ask Matt if he was hurt. _But if I could do it all over again..._ Her anger quickly cut through that thought, _hell, no. I just saved Matt’s life and this is the thanks I get!_ And in her current state, she was not in the mood to roll over and allow someone who didn’t understand what they were talking about, even her best girl, Monique, tell her, Kim Possible, how she should have reacted. “I saved his life, Mo!” she bit back. “You, Dylan and everyone else in the club were able to look after him, but only I could chase and catch Shego.”

While her words had been biting, Monique did not back down. “You are completely missing the point, Kim! And after everything I’ve witnessed from you over the past week, I’d say you’ve completely lost touch with reality.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Kim yelled, her own fists clenching. She took a ragged breath in through gritted teeth and had to force herself not to start coughing again.

“It means you’ve completely lost sight of everything normal in life,” Monique shot back.

It was on staring at her best girl’s expression of disdain, that Kim recalled one of their conversations from yesterday in the mall. The one about how she had gotten her friend out of work. At the time, Mo had looked like she had a lot more to say on the matter, but had elected to hold her tongue. Now, whether down to the fact that she was slightly drunk or not, Kim received the full two barrels that Monique had spared her from yesterday.

“You live in your own little Kim Possible world and only pop back into the real world when it suits you. You’re always making excuses not to spend time with your friends and even when you do, you’re so disinterested that you sit and check that Kimmunicator of yours.”

It was slight, but the expression on her face shifted slightly to betray the fact that she had just been busted. And it did not go unnoticed.

“Yeah, Kim, like Ron, I’ve seen you do that too.” Her friend then swiftly moved back to her original train of thought. “The only time you ever actually take an interest, is when it’s something you want to do and you just expect people to drop what they’re doing or worse, you call in favours to get them out of their responsibilities, just to satisfy yourself.”

Kim listened to the scathing commentary on her life but was in no mood to entertain it. Instead, she fired back, “I didn’t hear you complaining yesterday when I got you out of work **and** got you an appointment with Raul.”

“I didn’t complain because I’d hoped that by spending some quality time with you, I’d find some shred of a normal person left inside of you that I could relate to. In fact, you almost had me convinced when you asked me to take you out tonight, but all it took was the appearance of that green-skinned freak and you switched back to being Kim Possible; world hero and ignored the actual important thing.”

Kim felt her fists begin to shake as she retaliated, “she’s not a freak and her name’s Shego!” While she was still seething with rage at her rival, for some reason she could not stand to hear the derogatory remark. However, she quickly cast it aside and got back on track, “besides, that’s a load of bullshit! You think I’m the one using people? You and your little group of friends only invite me out because I can get you all served in a crap tonne of places you normally wouldn’t even be able to get into. I’m simply a convenience to you. None of you actually care what I might want to do.”

A twisted expression formed on Monique’s face at the insinuation and she wasted no time in hitting back with, “what you want to do is go off and find your next fix. Like when you were driving yesterday, you had to go and shove the car into a crazy skid, just to give yourself that little rush. Ron was right, Kim, you’re an adrenaline junkie!”

On hearing her ‘friend’s’ latest comment about her life, Kim knew she was done. _I am so fed up of hearing this sort of shit from people. I save the world on a weekly basis, but everyone else seems to think I don’t know how to run my own life. Well, they can all fuck right off._ With her ribs hurting like hell and her temper frayed, Kim knew that she had to leave before she did something she would regret. All she said was, “screw you!” before marching straight past the girl. _Mom can forget it if she thinks I’m going back to her place tonight. I’m going home._ Another breath caught in her chest and she broke out into another coughing fit.

From behind her, Monique called out, “Kim, are you ok?” concern having replaced the anger in her tone.

“I’m fine,” she shot back, her chest starting to tighten. _I don’t need anyone’s concern. I can look after myself…_ she forced herself to take another step forward, only for the pain from her ribs to ratchet up to excruciating levels. A film of water obscured Kim’s vision as she doubled over and fell to her knees.

“KIM!” Monique yelled and was at her side in an instant. “Shit, Kim, what have you done?”

“I’m…” she managed to say through a gasped breath. Her hands planted themselves on the asphalt, but her arms began to immediately shake as they struggled to hold her weight. However, her entire body was too preoccupied with trying to take a proper breath that she could not do anything about it. From beside her, she was vaguely aware that Monique had pulled out her phone.

“Dr Possible, where are you?” Kim heard her best girl say but could not hear the reply.

 _Dammit, she’s called mom!_ She felt another flash of anger, but that only made her cough more. _I don’t… need… their… help…_

“Kim, your mom will be here in two minutes, until she gets here, you need to try and stay calm and take big deep breaths.”

“That’s… easy… for…” Kim managed to get out, but quickly found that talking reduced the amount of air she could inhale. _What… is… wrong… with… me…_ Her chest had tightened again and she struggled to take in anything more than small, shallow breaths without it resulting in a coughing fit.

A moment later her arms finally gave way, but she was spared from hitting the ground by Monique, who had put an arm around her and was now holding her upright. How long she remained on her knees, with her best girl supporting her as she struggled to breathe properly, she did not know. However, eventually, she heard the distinctive roar of an engine that could only belong to the Sloth 3.0. The sound of her car’s tires screeching brought the vehicle to a halt and through the pain and tears that covered her eyes, Kim could see a fuzzy cloud of purple.

The sound of the driver-side door opening was accompanied by, “what happened, Monique?” said in a firm, no-nonsense tone. It was not the typical cry or flap of a mother who had just got out a car to see their only daughter on the ground, struggling to breathe. Rather, that of a doctor who knew such reactions were completely unhelpful and that the situation called for a cool head and expertise.

“I’m not sure,” Monique replied, trying to keep herself from flapping. “She chased after Shego, but by the time I’d called you, got Wade to find her and then got here myself, she was alone. We then…” shame laced the girl’s tone as she finished, “…we got into an argument. Kim went to leave, but broke out into a coughing fit and then collapsed.”

At the same time as her best girl was giving her mom the clip notes version of what had happened, Kim felt her mother kneel by her side.

“You’re going to be ok, Kimmie. Just try and take deep breaths,” the woman said calmly.

She then felt a mask get pressed against her face and a moment later, pure oxygen hissed out of it. She took a breath and felt the gas fill her lungs, relieving some of the stress on her chest. Focusing solely on the fact that she could breathe more easily, Kim missed anything that may have been said between her mom and best girl. However, she did feel her mother lift her top and place the open bell of a stethoscope over her lungs. She winced in pain when the woman touched her right-hand ribs. Several minutes passed before the mask was lowered away from her face.

“How is your breathing now, Kim?” her mom asked.

“Better,” she replied after a moment, finding it easier to breathe regular air again.

“Ok, good. Now, Monique and I are going to help you to your feet and then we’re going to walk slowly to the Sloth. Is that ok?”

“Yeah,” Kim nodded. While she did not like the idea of needing people to help her to the car, she disliked the idea of staying on her knees more.

She felt the two women drape one of her arms over their respective shoulders and carefully bring her up onto her feet. Her left foot buckled on the first step, but since ninety percent of her weight had been taken by her mom and Monique, she remained upright. Ever so slowly, step by buckled step, she was carried to the Sloth. At the push of a button, her mom opened the passenger door and then with Monique’s help, guided Kim into the seat. Once strapped in, she managed to raise a hand and wipe the tears from her eyes; her ribs still sending shooting sharp stabs of pain through her body. She then watched as her mom placed the oxygen tank on the floor and handed her the mask.

“You’ll be a lot more comfortable if you use this,” her mother said. While her voice had a kindness to it, her words had still been spoken in her doctor tone and what they really meant was, _“put that mask on and don’t take it off until I tell you.”_

Kim complied, glad to have the oxygen back; normal air sucked by comparison. Around about her, Monique and her mom climbed into the Sloth and the latter wasted no time in starting the engine and setting off. She was virtually a spectator to the short conversation that followed.

“Do you want me to take you home, Monique,” her mom then asked her best girl.

“Please, Dr Possible,” her friend replied from the back seats. “I’m just glad you got here when you did.”

“That was all down to you, Monique,” her mom replied. “If you hadn’t of had the sense to call me when you did, I’d only just be leaving the house.” Kim then received a brief but serious look. “You owe both Mo and Wade your thanks, Kim. It’s because of your friends that you’re sitting here right now and not in the back of an ambulance heading for the hospital.” Her mom paused briefly, before finishing, “I suppose you owe your brothers a thank you too. After all, they are the ones responsible for the Sloth having sat-nav with tracking capabilities, well-stocked medical equipment and for the fact that it can go so quickly. I must have hit one-hundred-and-fifty at one point on my way to find you.”

 _So, Wade was in on it too. It makes sense. He must have tracked my cell phone. However, it doesn’t bode well that the three of them can collaborate so efficiently._ Kim simply nodded her head, too focused on taking in wonderful deep breaths of sweet oxygen. If anyone said anything else, she did not hear them. Soon, her mom was pulling into the curb outside Monique’s parents’ house.

“Thanks, Dr Possible.”

She craned her head and watched as the girl unclipped her seatbelt and opened the door.

“No, thank you, Monique,” her mom replied, before saying something that made Kim shudder slightly. “And don’t worry about Kim, I’ll take care of her.”

 _What on earth does she mean by that?_ She didn’t want to think about what sort of medical exam she was about to be subjected to once her mom got her home. Or what else might fall under the vague umbrella of ‘take care of her’.

Monique then turned to look at her. “Kim,” she said, her voice flat and sounding like she was either unsure of what to say or if she even wanted to voice her current thoughts. “I’m sorry we got into a fight, but I’m not sorry for what I said. Someone had to say it to you; I just wish it hadn’t been me.”

Kim motioned to lower her oxygen mask. What she intended to say, she did not know but was quickly prevented from doing so by her mom.

“Kim, you need to keep that mask on,” the woman warned. “You can talk to Monique about this later and thank her for having some common sense.”

Without removing the mask, she glumly nodded her head and said a muffled, “thank you,” directed towards her best girl, before adding, “I’m sorry too,” even though she saw no reason why she should be sorry.

Even in her current state, Kim could detect the sorrow in her friend’s actions as she lightly shook her head and replied, “I really wish I believed you, Kim, however, I know that you don’t really mean it. And I really do regret having to say this, but we both know that you’re too stubborn to even consider the possibility that me or anyone else might be right.”

Kim’s immediate thought in response to this claim virtually proved the point, _you don’t have the faintest clue about my life, so have no right to comment!_ She felt another flash of anger towards her friend, but a stern look from her mother told her that an argument would not be tolerated. Instead, she fixed the woman with an expression that clearly said, _“aren’t you going to defend me?”_ Except her mom remained silent and allowed Monique to continue.

“Listen, Kim, I know I’ve not been the best friend either and owe you an apology for using you to get into clubs and bars. But unless you’re willing to admit you might be wrong and apologise too, and I mean a proper apology, not some grand gesture that you’ve cashed in favours to pull off, I don’t think I can talk to you. However, if you’re willing to do that, I’m willing to listen,” Monique said, the pain of her own words evident on her face. And Kim almost thought she could see a tear in the girl’s eye when she finished, “bye, Kim.”

On that bombshell, her best girl turned and walked towards the house. Her mom then pulled away from the curb and Kim had a bad feeling she had just lost another friend. _I don’t see what I have to apologise for._

Unfortunately, her mom seemed to agree with Monique. “I think you have a lot of serious thinking to do, Kim,” she said in her no-nonsense, no-argument mother voice.

She opened her mouth to do just that, but a stern look forced her to stop and simply take another large mouthful of oxygen. Had it not been for the fact that her temper was so frayed, she probably would have been enjoying the nice high that comes from inhaling pure oxygen. However, it seemed that her mom was intent on keeping her in her current state of irritation.

“I’m not sure I even want to know what you were thinking tonight,” her mother admonished. “I would have thought telling you to stay in one place and not to overexert yourself if you decided to dance, would have been enough of a warning that your body isn’t in any state to be chasing after super-villains. Not to mention the pain your ribs must still be causing you.”

Her mom wasn’t even looking at her when Kim opened her mouth to respond and had the words taken straight out of her mouth. “And if you even think about telling me your fine, Kimberly Ann, I’ll turn around and take you straight to the hospital.”

She promptly closed her mouth.

“Needless to say, any chance you had of going home tomorrow has gone right out the window,” her mom continued.

Kim rolled her eyes. _This isn’t good. She’s not even examined me properly and already she’s trying to prevent me from going home tomorrow. I’m not that badly injured. I probably just stressed my lungs a little too much having chased and fought Shego, followed by that stupid argument with Monique._ She folded her arms and huffed, causing her mask to steam up slightly. _I’ll be fine come morning._

“You’re very lucky that Monique called me the moment she left Heartbeats to go and look for you and that Wade was able to track your cell phone,” her mom went on. “And I don’t even want to think about why Shego didn’t finish you off when she had the chance.”

While she knew the answer to that one, Shego’s victory had been so easy that she hadn’t been worth finishing off, Kim had not wanted to think about it, or indeed anything to do with the fight, either. Unfortunately, her mom had just put it front and centre inside her mind once more. _Damn Shego for pulling that stupid kick._ It was no lie to say that she would rather have taken the full force of the blow and for her rival simply to have left her in a heap on the asphalt. For it illustrated perfectly that she had shown weakness to her enemy and then been humiliated by the green-skinned woman’s uncharacteristic display of mercy. _I wasn’t even worth her time to beat to a pulp._ That thought caused her to grit her teeth and clench her fists. _Next time I see her, I’ll make her regret leaving me in one piece._ Save for the night of her junior prom, It was utterly foreign for Kim to feel this level of hatred towards anyone; even her nemesis. But Shego had toyed with her emotions by pretending that they could have been friends and then slamming the door in her face. Messed with her head and almost deluded her into thinking that she liked girls. And then purposefully ruined her first time with a boy since Ron. Mix it all together and sprinkle on the indignity she’d just suffered and the end result wasn’t unreasonable; understandable, truth be told. _Next time we fight, I’m taking her down once and for all…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I lied (sort of) about the chapter title. While it is a good metaphor for how Kim feels when stuck at home, it really was more to do with the actual events of this particular chapter.


	27. Running over the same old ground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so chapter two of three. Yes, I know some of you are probably still aggrieved that it's not two of six, but you'll thank me for it come next week... Kim Possibly? Yeah, yeah, terrible joke, I know, but what are you going to do about it? *author has to run at the sight of pitchforks and torches.*
> 
> Moving on, I wrote an initial draft of this chapter, loved it and then went to bed. Next day, I woke up and something about it started to nag at me. After I came home from work the next day, I had to go back and read it to try and figure out what was wrong. In the end, while I still loved the initial version, it just didn't seem to fit with where Shego is at right now. So, I had to rework it until it did. I slightly gutted, truth be told, as I thought it was a really good scene but one that I now won't get to use, even if, when the time comes, I have to write something with a similar sort of sentiment.
> 
> As for the chapter title, running over the same old ground is a lyric from the Pink Floyd track Wish You Were Here, from their sensational 1975 album of the same name. In fact, not only is it my favourite Pink Floyd album, it is my favourite record of all time, period. I actually have three different vinyl copies of it, not that you needed to know that, lol. Regardless, not only is it a good fit for the events of this chapter, but it is also a little bit of a dig at myself for having had Shego do the same thing in each of the last updates. Seriously, I need to give that girl some variety in her life. In fact, for you eagle-eyed readers, you'll spot a similar in-joke within the chapter itself.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy and I'll see you in a bit for the last chapter of this update.

Shego cut the Blackbird’s engine, kicked down the stand and hopped off. Having ridden at breakneck speed without a helmet, her hair was, put mildly, windswept to the max. Closing the garage door, she made her way into the house and headed straight upstairs to change into some loungewear and run a brush through her wild raven hair. After that, she headed into the living room, her eyes immediately falling on the sofa. Lounged atop a cushion; amidst a sea of cheese balls, was Ru-Ru, his pink belly positively bulging.

“Looks like someone had fun,” Shego commented offhandedly, as she fetched a glass from her liquor cabinet.

She laughed lightly when his beady eyes lazily turned to look at her and he mumbled, “cheese,” in a tone not dissimilar to that she would associate with a stoner.

 _Heh, whacked out on cheese balls. If only the rest of us could blow our minds so easily._ She gave a passing thought to whether she could use an illicit substance to escape from little Miss Go but quickly rejected it. Her glow had even less of a liking for drugs than it did for alcohol. _Damn my stupid superpower for not letting me get high._ She set the glass alongside the bottle of whisky Killigan had given her on the table and then sat down with her back against the corner of the sofa.

“So, enjoy your night of freedom?” she asked the naked-mole-shark.

“Uh-hu, uh-hu,” Ru-Ru replied, his tongue lolling outside his mouth.

Her gaze travelled to the TV, a replacement for the one she’d obliterated two weeks prior. It displayed a scene depicting two individuals, an elderly man and a blonde-haired woman, sitting at a table; each with a katana. Shego recognised it as the climax to Kill Bill volume two. It instantly put her in mind of her social encounters with Kimmie. Two individuals with a long and complicated history between them, who could sit talking and drinking for as long as they liked, but who would inevitably end up fighting each other.

Shego glanced at Ru-Ru, “I bet Amy never let you sit and watch something this violent.”

The naked-mole-shark’s eyes were glued to the screen, but nevertheless, he shook his head, “ut-uh.”

She laughed, “you really are a bloodthirsty little sod.”

Ru-Ru nodded quickly, before saying, “shhh.”

Shego shook her head in amusement and busied herself with the task of pouring herself a drink. Swirling the whisky in the glass, she absentmindedly watched as the inevitable fight broke out. _At least when Kimmie and I fight it’s not to kill. Although, I wonder just how intense it would be if that were the case?_

 _“Well, you know what it’s like when she tries to kill you,”_ Miss Go said, her voice effortlessly slipping into Shego’s thoughts.

The woman’s words brought with them the memory of the night Kimmie had kicked her into that electrical tower. _Yeah, really don’t fancy going through that again. It really fucking hurt and then those police bastards hit me with that damn serum to suppress my glow before I had a chance to heal myself. I was in pain for days afterwards._

 _“I’m glad you remember,”_ Miss Go said before her tone switched to one of incomprehension, _“so why on earth did you purposefully poke her with a very sharp stick? Do you want her to get that angry at you again?”_

 _She needs to get angry or she’ll end up stuck in a very long and drawn-out period of denial. You know how stubborn she is,_ Shego replied as she sniffed the whisky.

 _“And how does making her angry at you help?”_ Miss Go countered.

_Because her issues with her sexuality are inseparably tied to me._

_“Well, if that isn’t narcissistic, I don’t know what is.”_

_It’s not narcissistic if it’s true._ Shego took a sip of the whisky and rolled it around her tongue, picking up faint hints of fruit, caramel and spice. Before Miss Go could ask her for proof, she added, _Princess is too set in her beliefs to have even thought about questioning her sexuality without provocation; despite how bad a breakup she might have had with the buffoon. The world’s told her she should be straight and so that’s that. The only reason it’s even come about is because I provoked it with that date comment after we fought two weeks ago. She’s now questioning her sexuality because she’s unsure whether or not she **likes** me._

_“Wow, it almost sounds like you’ve thought this through.”_

_What do you mean ‘almost’?_ Shego replied, aware that she was probably skirting dangerously close to yet another pitfall trap. The woman seemed to dig more of those than Team Rocket.

Surprisingly, it was with slight dismay that Miss Go replied, _“an angry Kimmie doesn’t help you any. You know she’s liable to dig in her heels and fight every step of the way. And even if she does eventually accept that she likes girls, she’s liable to resent you for it.”_

For once, she didn’t even bother to try and argue the woman’s point. She’d already been well aware of the Possible eventuality of her little plasma ball stunt, but fired it anyway. _This isn’t about me…_

Her words rendered Miss Go speechless for a few moments, in which Shego was able to take a completely uninterrupted drink. Her gaze travelled to the TV screen and then to the naked-mole-shark sat next to her. The credits were now rolling and Ru-Ru appeared to have slipped into a cheese ball induced daze. _What am I going to do with you?_ she managed to ponder for a brief moment.

 _“Ok, back up. Did you actually just say that this **isn’t** about you?” _Miss Go finally managed to say in astonishment.

_Yeah, I did._

_“Ok… who the hell are you and what have you done with Shego? Did she actually use one of Dr Drakken’s mind-altering pieces of junk and transplant me into someone else’s brain? Oh God, am I now inside Drakken’s head?”_ Miss Go said, her voice dripping with astounded amusement, _“I don’t want to be inside Drakken’s head.”_

A thin smile spread across Shego’s lips and a light laugh escaped from behind them. _What? Surprised that I might actually do something that isn’t selfish?_

_“Well, doy! I wasn’t aware that I had rubbed off enough on you yet to get you to do something that was not for your benefit.”_

_Let’s just say you reminded me of how shit it was to go through the whole sexuality issue,_ she admitted, albeit somewhat grudgingly. It had been a rare moment and even though she had still felt angry at Kimmie for leading her on, she could not help but empathise with her rival, to the point that she had been compelled to assist in her own unique way. _No one should have to go through the hell I did. Unfortunately, Kimmie’s in the exact same boat. Living in a conservative community, where her parents, friends, teachers and society have all told her she should be straight **and** with no one she can talk to about it._

 _“Then why didn’t you try **talking** to her? Instead of setting some poor boy’s jumper on fire,” _Miss Go admonished.

_You heard her as clearly as I did tonight. She was still too entrenched in denial to talk to me about the fact that she’s gay. Besides, after Friday night, she’s not likely to want to sit down and talk to me and I sure as hell don’t want to sit down and talk with her._

_“If that’s true, then why bother trying to help her in the first place?”_

_I might hate her for leading me on, but like I said, no one deserves to go through the same hell I did; not even Kimmie._ She finished off the contents of her glass and let out a long sigh, _I really must be going soft._

 _“Having empathy for someone isn’t going soft,”_ Miss Go stated firmly. _“However, we can deal with your wider emotional issues at a later date. For now, let's stay focused on Kimmie. How is this going to help her?”_

Shego rolled her eyes at having to explain her reasoning to her own mind. She really did hate it when she did something un-Shego like, as she always had to sit and justify it to herself after the event. _For me, anger was the stage after denial. When you’re in complete denial, you can still burry most of your thoughts about your sexuality. However, once you hit anger, you can’t control them as easily, even though you still won’t accept the truth. And since, in Kimmie’s head, the issue is intertwined with me, making her angry at me will keep digging up the question of her sexuality._

 _“Oh, now that is clever,”_ Miss Go said in approval.

 _Why thank you,_ Shego replied smugly. It was not often she got any sort of endorsement from that part of her brain.

_“Kimmie’s going to be angry at you until the next time you fight at the very least.”_

_Exactly and if she doesn’t win, that fire will only continue to rage. All the while, she’ll keep dragging up the issue of her sexuality. Sooner or later, all she’ll need is some sort of catalyst to induce a serious gay thought and she’ll spiral into stage three, fear. After that, there’ll be no going back. She’ll eventually hit bargaining; where she tries to argue that while she might find girls attractive, she still likes boys…_

_“… then finally reaches acceptance that she is either gay or bisexual.”_

Shego poured herself another drink. _My money says she’s a lesbian. Her poor track record with boys, not to mention tonight’s shit show, pretty much rules out bisexuality. Heh, I don’t even want to imagine how difficult it would be for her to accept that she likes girls if she was bisexual._

Miss Go laughed lightly, _“now that would have been a problem,”_ before her tone turned serious again, _“I take it you intend to be the catalyst that sends her into fear.”_

 _No way,_ Shego thought hastily and quickly took a drink, as though trying to drown the woman’s words out. _I told you. I’m doing this purely because I don’t think even Kimmie deserves to suffer for the length of time that I did. Not because I’m in any way interested in her beyond fighting her._

 _“Ok,”_ Miss Go said calmly, as she would to a pupil who was moments away from flying off the handle, _“I sense that you’re still feeling burned after what happened on Friday night.”_ She then hastily added, _“which is perfectly understandable, given that it was only two days ago.”_

 _I made a mistake on Friday night and in the lead up to it,_ Shego spat, feeling a flash of anger towards Kimmie for leading her on, but more so at herself for allowing it to happen in the first place. _I won’t let it happen again._

 _“Now you’re beginning to sound like your usual self.”_ Miss Go then let out a sigh, _“and I thought we were making genuine progress.”_

_Shut it._

_“And now you’re snapping at me. Guess normal service has been resumed.”_

_Normal service will be resumed once Kimmie gets this out her system and we go back to trading petty insults and beating the crap out of each other, while Dr D bumbles about trying to take over the world._ Unfortunately, Shego could not mask the bitterness she felt upon having that thought.

Matters were quickly made worse when Miss Go leapt upon it. _“Admit it, you don’t want things to go back to normal.”_

 _I will not!_ She downed the rest of her drink. _And I’d be much happier if I could return to normal service, whereby I don’t end up spending every other night sitting here trying to drink you into oblivion. Do you know how much TV I’ve missed because of you?_

Miss Go laughed, _“if you cared that much about TV, you would have tried to watch it in order to shut me up already.”_

_You know, I do actually like TV._

_“Maybe, but you like Kimmie more. And deep down, I think you know that. Which is why, as much as you might hate me and want to drown me out, you keep coming back to this very spot with some booze to have it out with me.”_

Shego felt her glow activate, but managed to keep her hands from erupting into balls of green plasma. _I do **not** keep coming back here because I **want** to talk to you! If I could be shot of you, I would be._

 _“No, you wouldn’t,”_ Miss Go replied matter-of-factly. _“Hate to break it to you, Cupcake, but you need me.”_

_I do not!_

_“Yes, you do. You’re so stuck within the narrow parameters that you constructed for Shego, that whenever you want to do something that falls out with them, you need me to help justify it. **Including** anything Kimmie related that isn’t beating her to a pulp.”_

_That’s a load of bullshit!_

_“No, it isn’t. The only exceptions to that rule occur on nights like tonight, where you feel compelled to do something un-Shego like. That’s when we swap roles and you have to justify to me why you acted the way you did.”_

Given that she had been forced to use her glow on the way home to sober up (she probably would have crashed otherwise), Shego had enough control to neatly set her glass down on the table, stand up and walk out of the living room. However, that did not stop her from internally uttering a harsh, _shut up!_ Crossing the hall, she opened the door to the basement, locked it behind her and descended the stairs. As soon as she was within the safe confines of the mad-science-steel reinforced room, she allowed her hands to erupt in green plasma.

She had just hit the Wavemaster with a vicious four-punch combo, when Miss Go finally replied, _“no, you need to listen to me.”_

 _No, I don’t._ Fore-fist-punch, reverse punch, inward-knife-hand, uppercut, spinning-backfist, Shego rattled off each technique with unnerving speed and precision. _I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to._

Unfortunately, Miss Go was not to be deterred, _“but that’s the whole point! The entire reason for me annoying you is because you want to do something that falls out with the rules the Shego persona imposes upon you.”_

Shego took a step back into kicking range and lashed out with a front-snap-kick, side-kick, turning kick combo that she seamlessly transitioned into a reverse-turning-kick. The Wavemaster crashed to the floor and as it sprang back up, she jumped into the air and rattled off a series of four front-snap-kicks; just like Kimmie had been doing recently. _News flash, I **like** being Shego._

 _“Ah, but you used to love being Shego,”_ Miss Go retorted smoothly. _“But something’s changed. You’re starting to realise that the constraints you place on yourself don’t allow you to do everything you want.”_

She froze in the middle of a twin-knife-hand strike. _The only things I stop myself from doing are things that I neither want nor need to do._

_“Really? So why have you spent the past two weeks arguing with me over whether you can or can’t spend time with Kimmie?”_

_Because I made a stupid mistake!_ Shego lashed out with a series of rolling punches.

 _“Sounds to me like someone else needs a good hard shove out of denial and into anger,”_ Miss Go jabbed.

The resultant yell that she let out sounded like one that had come from someone who had literally just been poked with a very sharp stick and she shot a large blast of green plasma towards the wall. _I am **not** in denial!_

_“Aren’t you? Why don’t you take a closer look at yourself and what you’ve done over the past two weeks? Or are you afraid of what you might find out about yourself?_

Shego froze as the memories of the past two weeks, of that first evening with Kimmie in spritzers, their resultant dance, the two weeks she had spent arguing with Miss Go about whether she could spend time with the hero, the revelation that she found Princess very attractive and wanted to bed her and how genuinely angry she had been when things had gone south, raced through her mind.

 _“You’re beginning to feel it, aren’t you,”_ Miss Go said in a kind, gentle tone.

 _Feel what?_ Shego replied, however, her tone lacked the venom it had held moments prior.

_“The constraints of being you… of being Shego. And how they stop you from doing what you want.”_

She half-heartedly hit the Wavemaster with a punch and let out a long sigh, _ok, fine, you’re right._

 _“Good, I’m glad you're finally able to admit it to yourself,”_ Miss Go replied, the woman’s voice lacking the usual smugness it held when she managed to extract admittance from her. _“Now, it’s high time you did something about it.”_

Shego allowed her plasma to dissipate and her glow slowly faded. _Why is this even happening to me?_ she asked as she shook her head. There were few things she hated more than having to accept that she was undergoing some form of inner turmoil and as Miss Go had pointed out, she’d been in denial over this one for two solid weeks.

While the question may have been rhetorical, she received an answer nonetheless, _“because the empathy and compassion you showed towards Kim tonight was genuine. It highlighted everything you’ve been trying to escape from for the past two weeks and in a manner that you couldn’t ignore… everything that you deny yourself by being Shego.”_

 _Ok, now you’re just making stuff up,_ she thought as she crossed the room and headed back upstairs. However, she then added, _but ok, any suggestions?_ She left the basement and found herself wandering back into the living room.

 _“My advice, start small. Do something un-Shego like that isn’t completely earth-shattering.”_ Miss Go then let out an amused laugh when her gaze fell upon the sofa. _“Or maybe you already have.”_

Shego stared at the naked-mole-shark in his cheese-induced slumber, _Ru-Ru?_

_“Exactly. You didn’t turn him over to Drakken this morning, so he could be handed back to Amy. Why don’t you let him stay for good?”_

She thought about this for a moment. It wasn’t the worst idea in the world. The naked-mole-shark had enough intelligence to look after himself, so it was not like she would ever need to rush home to let him out for the toilet. And she had become rather fond of the little terror. Nevertheless, she rolled her eyes, _why do I get the feeling that I’m going to regret agreeing to this._

 _“Oh, you undoubtedly will when he wrecks something for the first time,”_ Miss Go replied and she laughed again. _“But I’m sure you’ll enjoy teaching him the rules. Only you had best decide whether you want to run the risk of telling Amy that he’s staying with you. Because you know what those crazy collector types are like. Even once she’s moved onto her latest creation, she’ll still want him back if she ever finds out you have him.”_

 _Good point. The last thing I need is for Amy to show up with an army of her more monstrous genetically spliced ‘Cuddle Buddies’ while I’m out and about._ Shego picked up the bag of cheese balls and scooped those strewn around the naked-mole-shark back into it. She then took it to the kitchen, along with her glass and deposited the former in the cupboard and the latter in the sink. Returning to the living room, she added the new bottle of whisky to her collection inside the liquor cabinet.

 _“I think I’ll leave you to decide how to handle Amy,”_ Miss Go then said as Shego returned to the sofa and stared down at the cushion upon which Ru-Ru was sprawled; still fast asleep.

She snorted _, that’s probably the only thing you’ll let me deal with by myself._

_“Probably, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”_

_I must be losing my mind,_ Shego thought as she picked up the cushion. Taking her new roommate upstairs, she placed him down on the lounge chair, changed into her pyjamas and climbed into bed. _In hindsight, I suppose I’ve had worse nights recently._ As if to illustrate this point, her mind served up clips of the night she had screamed herself into unconsciousness; when she’d been forced to endure the full brunt of the pain from her healing abilities and of two nights ago; when she had virtually collapsed from exhaustion after the violent explosion of her glow.

She settled down, only to receive one final parting remark from Miss Go, _“you’re doing the right thing. Who knows, maybe by the time Kim’s ready, you’ll be ready too.”_

 _Bite me,_ Shego replied in a playful manner as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift into unconsciousness. 


	28. Mother's going to keep you right here under her wing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, chapter 3 of 3. And don't you lot even think about getting those pitchforks and torches back out! 
> 
> Mother's going to keep you right here under her wing, rounds off our set of three Pink Floyd related chapter titles. This time, like chapter 19, it is another lyric from the song Mother, from their 1979 album The Wall. Like with chapter 19's title, it is another fairly self-explanatory reference to Ann and her attempts to look after Kim. So, without any further delay, let's get on with it. Enjoy.

Kim sat in the passenger seat and could only watch as the garage door opened and her mother drove her own car inside. When it closed behind them, she had a sinking feeling that she had just lost her chance to escape from… whatever her mom intended to do to her now. _God, I feel like some teenager who’s just been picked up from the police station, after having been arrested for underage drinking._ Granted, she couldn’t have gone anywhere anyway. In her present condition, she’d be lucky to get out of the car and then up to her old bedroom without assistance. _Not that mom’s likely to let me do that,_ she thought bitterly, as her mom climbed out of the Sloth and wandered around to the passenger side.

The door opened and her mom reached in to turn the oxygen tank off. “If you need more, I’ve got some upstairs,” the woman said and removed the mask from Kim’s face.

She was about to respond with her usual, _‘I’m fine,’_ but recalled what her mom had said she’d do if she did. While it seemed unlikely that the woman would get back into the car and drive her to the hospital now that they were home, Kim did not want to risk inviting some of other form of punishment. _Great, I’m even thinking like a busted high school teen._ Instead, she replied, “my breathing’s a lot better now.” While true, she doubted her word on the matter would spare her the examination to come.

“Ok, Kimmie, let’s get you up to your bedroom,” her mom then said, her tone still one of no-nonsense and no-argument, but with a dash of motherly kindness thrown in as a sort of goodwill gesture.

Before her mom could get to it, Kim unbuckled her own seatbelt. While purely a symbolic gesture, she would not suffer the indignity of having everything done for her. She hated feeling so weak… so vulnerable. With difficulty, she swung her legs out of the car and planted them on the garage floor. _Come on, you can do this, Possible._ It was a struggle for her to stand and she had to grip the door frame, to the point her knuckles turned white, in order to straighten up. Immediately, her mom was there to offer her support, which she grudgingly had to accept. Her legs shook as slowly, her mother helped her out of the garage. With each step, she felt a foreign fear that her legs would give way. _I refuse to fall, I refuse to fall!_ When they entered the hallway, Kim’s gaze darted around, searching for any sign of her dad or the Tweebs.

Her mom must have sensed her apprehension, for she quickly said, “your father and brothers went to bed about fifteen minutes before I left to come and pick you up.”

“What time is it?” she asked, slightly confused.

“Almost midnight. Now, let’s get you upstairs.”

This came as somewhat of a surprise to Kim, the last she’d been aware it had only been half-past ten, but she quickly decided it was irrelevant. The important thing being that neither her dad nor the Tweebs were likely to see her in this state. _It’s bad enough that mom and Monique have seen me like this, not to mention Shego… damn that bitch!_ The mere thought of the green-skinned woman caused her anger to simmer once more. However, she chose not to let it boil over, electing instead to ask her mom, “why were you not in bed?” The answer came to her before her mom could respond and so she then queried, “were you waiting up for me?”

“Of course I was. I did tell you that you could call me for a lift home,” her mom replied as she guided Kim towards the stairs. “And it’s a good thing too.”

She chose not to waste her breath on arguing, primarily since she still did not have much to spare, but also because her present condition served as more than enough evidence to counter any possible claim she could make to the contrary. However, she had a sneaking suspicion that her mom may have been expecting something untoward to happen. _Does she seriously just assume that I’m always going to wind up in some sort of trouble?_

If she had thought the trip from the garage to the foot of the stairs had been bad, it paled in comparison to actually having to ascend them. With her mom supporting her on one side and her other hand gripped firmly on the handrail, she slowly climbed one agonising stair at a time. When they reached the top, she was forced to ask, “can we stop for a moment,” as she struggled to catch her breath.

“Take all the time you need, Kimmie,” her mom replied kindly.

Kim felt her mom tightening her grip around her upper torso so that she now bore even more of her weight. Her brain immediately wanted to protest, to yell that she was fine and did not need help, but she forced herself to quell the thought. The reality of the situation being that she really did. She took a series of slow, semi-deep breaths, mindful to try and avoid a coughing fit that might draw her dad or brothers out into the hallway. After about two minutes, she nodded and said, “ok, I’m ready.”

Pain stabbed at her ribs but Kim forced herself forwards and towards the wooden stairs that led up to her old attic bedroom. Unfortunately, they were not wide enough for both her and her mom to climb up side by side. But it seemed the woman had already thought about this problem, as she wasted no time in turning around and climbing backwards up one step.

“Grab my upper arms and put your weight down,” her mom instructed, holding out her arms.

Kim didn’t question her and complied. Her mom then did the same.

“Ok, one step at a time and don’t be scared to put as much weight down into my arms as you need to.”

They climbed the first step and she felt her leg quiver. However, her mom allowed her to pause before they tackled the next one. With each subsequent step, her legs buckled slightly more and it was perhaps only through her indomitable spirit or sheer stubbornness that she finally made it to the top without collapsing. However, that did not stop her mom from quickly wrapping an arm around her torso and taking a lot of her weight the moment her second foot touched down inside her old bedroom. The woman then hastily escorted her over to the bed and sat her down. It took great effort for Kim not to simply flop backwards onto the soft duvet. 

“Right, Kimmie, I’m going to give you a brief check over just now, followed by some painkillers. Then you’re going straight to bed, understand.” It was not a question.

 _Only a brief check over? Who are you and what have you done with mom?_ “Ok,” she replied warily. She watched as her mom fetched her bag of medical implements and sat it down on the bed. _There is no way I’m getting off that light._

Like she had just read her mind, her mom then added, “I’ll then be giving you a thorough check over in the morning, including a new set of x-rays.”

_I knew she wouldn’t let me off the lightly._

Her thought process must have shown on her face as her mom then said, “believe me, if I thought you would be able to stay awake for a full exam and stand up for x-rays, I’d be doing the whole thing here and now.” The woman then procured her auditory thermometer. “Hold still, Kimmie.”

“Are you expecting me to go somewhere?” she said dryly, but received a reproachful look and the thermometer in her ear for her trouble.

“I’m not sure what to expect from you anymore,” her mom admonished, as the device let out a high-pitched beep that Kim knew indicated that she was feverish again. Like with Monique yesterday, her mother looked like she had more to say on the matter, but had chosen not too.

 _Great, guess she’s saving that for tomorrow as well._ Her mom then forewent the penlight and tongue depressor but did give the glands at her throat a good once over, which caused her to wince. Kim then had her heart and lungs listened to as well as her pulse and O2 stats measured using the finger clip. After her ribs had been unstrapped and scrutinised, with some rather painful pokes, her mom then fixed her with a serious stare.

“Did Shego injure you in any way or did you have an unfortunate impact with the ground or any other surface.”

For a moment, Kim did not say anything as she replayed the short fight in her head.

However, an intensifying of her mom’s stare, followed by, “Kimberly Ann,” forced her to respond.

“Shego knocked me down and I landed on my butt,” she said bitterly, the memory of her humiliating defeat reigniting the anger inside her. _As soon as I am back on my feet, that bitch won’t know what’s hit her._

Her mom then handed her a pair of pyjamas. “You can get changed and I’ll take a look at your coccyx when I’m giving you your antibiotics.”

“Aww, not another hypodermic in my butt,” Kim almost cried.

Unfortunately, her mom’s facial expression told her that there would be zero argument on the issue. “Your temperature is back up and your lungs sound far worse than they did this morning. Had you not stressed them out by chasing after Shego, I might have let you away without it tonight. Now, do you need some help to change?”

“No, I’m fi…” she began to say as she bent down to remove her boots, but stopped abruptly when the increased pain from her ribs caused her to wince loudly, “ahh!”

“That’ll be a big yes then,” her mom said and knelt down.

 _Urgh, this is so humiliating,_ Kim thought as she was forced to let her mom aid her in changing into the pink pyjamas and then help her into bed. However, the feeling of vulnerability far outstripped it. At the woman’s command, she rolled over onto her side and felt a hand poke and prod at her lower back. Only if she felt any pain, it was drowned out by that coming from her ribs.

“Right, Kimmie, just try to relax and I’ll make this as quick as I can.”

Like with the previous doses of antibiotics, Kim screwed up her eyes and let out a muffled whimper as the remorseless hypodermic pierced her flesh and the cold sensation flowed through her butt-cheek. Only this time she felt a solitary tear roll from the corner of her left eye. A sign of just how worn down her body felt. When the needle was finally removed and her mom had covered the puncture site with a band-aid, she pulled her trousers back up.

“I’ll be back in a moment with some water for you, so you can take your painkillers and then you can go to sleep,” her mother the said.

Kim heard the woman stand up, cross the room to the stairs and then descend. She felt absolutely exhausted and it was even more of a struggle not to fall asleep, now that she had actually gotten into bed, than it had been when she had first sat down. A cough escaped from her mouth followed closely by another and then another. _I feel terrible._ It was no lie. In fact, she could scarcely recall a time where she had felt worse. At least not since she had suffered the horrific claw injury to her back from… _Shego. Why does everything come back to her!_ She balled a fist and slammed it into the duvet. _Even this is her fault! Her and that damn vortex throw!_ It was perhaps a testament to just how much anger she currently felt towards her rival, that her mind had conjured up such a thought. The injury had been her fault, for she had gotten too over-eager and not seen the vortex throw coming. And prior to their fight in the parking lot, she would have freely admitted it. But that had been then, before Shego had inflicted such a humiliating defeat upon her. _In fact, everything is her fault! The pain I’m currently in. Being stuck here at mom and dads, instead of at home. Not being able to go out on a mission tomorrow. And the fact that I even questioned my sexuality…_ the memories from earlier that night with Matt, their dance and then ill-fated make-out session, filled her mind and for a brief moment, she recalled how it had felt before they had been interrupted. About how there had been no spark or magic to speak of and how it had eventually felt awkward… wrong… _No,_ Kim spat viciously, _that was just because I was nervous. Because I haven’t been with anyone for eighteen months; not since Ron. It would all have been fine if Shego hadn’t of set Matt’s jumper on fire! I like boys! And I’m so going to make her pay for that… for everything!_

“Ok, Kimmie, sit up so you can take your painkillers.”

The voice of her mom from her bedside, cut through Kim’s thought process and she jumped slightly; wincing at the jolt of pain from her ribs. She hadn’t even heard the woman return. With difficulty, she sat up, leaned back against the headboard and took the glass of water that her mom held out to her. A set of three small tablets were then deposited into her other hand.

“Three!” she then said in alarm. A hazy fragment of memory, from when she had injured her back, played through her mind. _I’m going to be completely out of it if I take all these!_ However, what she should have paid attention to was the small lump in her mother’s trouser pocket.

“Yes, Kimmie, three,” her mom replied, a no-nonsense expression covering her face. “I’m well aware of the fact that the pain from your ribs is a lot higher now than it was before you went out.”

Given her mom’s current disposition towards her, Kim knew that even the slightest hint of an argument would likely result in her being rolled over and a painkiller being delivered via hypodermic into her other butt cheek; not just a polite reminder that it could be done that way. Grudgingly, she tipped the small handful of pills into her mouth and swallowed them with a mouthful of water. “Happy?” she asked and set the glass down on the nightstand.

“I’ll be happy if your pulse has come down, it was slightly high when I measured it earlier,” her mom replied. “Now, hold out your wrist.”

Kim rolled her eyes but didn’t dare object. _I thought she said only a quick check over._ Her mom took her offered wrist and placed two fingers over her pulse point. Had she her full wits about her, she probably would have questioned why the woman was not looking at her watch and why her free hand had instead gone into her trouser pocket. She waited, noticing too late when her mom changed her grip on her wrist and placed something around it. Her eyes widened when she heard the click of an electronic lock and her gaze zeroed in on her right wrist.

“What the…” she exclaimed in shock, as she felt a metal bracelet, about an inch and a half wide, touch her skin and then quickly contract. Immediately, she brought her other hand across to claw at it and found, to her horror, that she could barely get a fingernail between it and her skin; much like when she’d been stuck wearing the centurion project. “Mom, what the hell is this!”

Her mom let out a light chuckle. “Another of your brothers’ inventions.”

“I could have guessed that!” Kim replied irately. “What on earth does it do?”

“According to Jim and Tim, it will trigger the relevant blast shutters should the wearer, in this case, you, go within four feet of any of the outside doors or windows.”

“WHAT!” she yelled, a mortified expression forming on her face. “Why the hell would you…”

“Because after tonight, I can’t trust you not to do something stupid, like wake up early and try to sneak off home. Or wait until your father and I have gone to work tomorrow and then simply walk out the front door. This way, I’ll know that you’ll be both safe and recuperating properly.”

“Mom, you can’t just keep me here against my will!” Kim exclaimed. “Take it off now!”

“Can’t I? Remember, Kimmie, anything is possible for a Possible. So, until further notice, young Lady, consider yourself grounded.”

The look she received told Kim that no matter what she said or did, which wouldn’t amount to much in her current state, her mom was not going to relent. However, that did not stop her from saying, “Mom, you are being completely unreasonable.”

“No, Kimmie, being completely unreasonable would have been me doing this yesterday afternoon,” her mother replied sternly. “However, because of your blatant disregard for your own health and safety tonight, I cannot as your mother and in good conscience, allow you the freedom to decide what’s best for you in your current condition.”

Her mouth hung open as she listened to her mother’s justification. “Mom!” she exclaimed again in outrage, “I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself!”

The expression on her mother’s face did not soften one iota. “No, Kimberly Ann Possible, you’re not. I really wish I didn’t have to do this, but it is for your own good.”

“You have no right to decide what’s for my own good,” Kim fired back hotly, however, she could feel her mind rapidly tiring and the siren-like call of the soft pillow and duvet. “In case you missed it, I’m an adult now, Mom. I can take care of myself!”

“You might be an adult, Kim, but you’ve made it abundantly clear that you can’t look after yourself. Which, unfortunately, has left me no other option,” her mom then said, her tone shifting to one that contained hints of worry, sorrow and regret. “Go to sleep, Kimmie. We can discuss what you might want to use this downtime for in the morning.”

Kim huffed as her mom reached out, kissed her on the forehead and gave her a hug; she did not reciprocate it. Instead, she glared at the woman as she watched her walk over to her desk.

“I picked this up from your apartment to make you feel a little more at home,” her mom then said and held up…

“Pandaroo,” Kim exclaimed, happier to see her favourite Cuddle Buddy than someone her age perhaps should have been. However, she did not care as in that instant her irritation evaporated. She reached out a hand and took the stuffed toy from her mom and shamelessly embraced it.

“He should help you sleep.”

It was only then that Kim actually looked at the pink pyjamas she was wearing and saw the small stain on the sleeve. They were not some random pair her mom had found; rather the ones that she had dribbled some satay sauce over several months ago. The woman had taken them from the wardrobe in her apartment. She stared at her mom in amazement, “when did you…?”

“I nipped back after I dropped you and Monique off. I also picked up some of your clothes; mostly loungewear,” her mom replied before she had even finished asking the question. “I want you to feel as comfortable as possible while you’re here. If there is anything else you want me to get for you, within reason, just ask me in the morning and I’ll pick it up on my way home from work.”

It may have been a result of the drugs in her system starting to take effect, or the fact she was now cuddling Pandaroo, but Kim could not help but feel grateful. “Thanks, Mom,” she said and opened her arms out for a hug.

Her mom leaned over and they embraced.

“Goodnight, Kimmie cub,” her mother whispered in her ear.

“Goodnight mom.” 

They parted and Kim watched the woman cross the room, turn out the bedroom light and then descend the stairs. When she was finally out of sight, she sat Pandaroo down and turned her attention to the bracelet on her right wrist. It had a small display and a few buttons on it, but pressing them did nothing. While her irritation at her mom had subsided for now, that did not mean that she was not going to try and get rid of the damn thing. After all, she was Kim Possible and this simply felt like another challenge for her to tackle. Futilely, she clawed at the bracelet from every conceivable angle but gained zero purchase on it. She let out a deflated sigh, d _amn those Tweebs for coming up with something like this and for giving it to mom._ Unfortunately, in her current state, she could not test her mother’s claim that it would close the relevant blast shutters if she went within four feet of a door or window. _Come tomorrow, I am so figuring out a way around this blasted thing, even if I need to wring it out of those Tweebs necks!_

Kim suddenly felt a wave of dizziness that she knew was the codeine kicking in and she became faintly aware that the pain in her ribs had lessened somewhat. Flopping back against her pillow, she cuddled Pandaroo close to her chest, closed her eyes and allowed her mind to become increasingly more addled before unconsciousness eventually took her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there we are for another update. Kim has been placed under house arrest by her mother and Shego has decided to let Ru-Ru stay with her. What is going to happen to these two laddies next? Answer, I already know as I've written the bulk of next week's update, but you lot are all going to have to wait until then to find out. Yeah, that'll teach you to chase me with pitchforks and torches, lol. FYI, I have no idea where the whole pitchforks and torches thing came from, I just ended up rolling with it. 
> 
> Incidentally, for what is supposed to be a KiGo story, Kim and Shego have only actually been in the same chapter together, a grand total of five times out of twenty-eight (not counting the end of chapters 1 & 2). Just thought I'd share that little observation I'd made while posting this update. Moving forward, I really need to do something about that and I fully intend to. Maybe just not in the next update, lol.
> 
> While it may not feel like it, we've actually made some significant headway in terms of the character development in this update. Like Shego predicted in chapter 27, Kim is now very angry and it is going to be on like Donkey Kong the next time they meet. We'll also start to see how that anger towards Shego starts digging up the question of her sexuality next time out. In terms of our green-skinned goddess, I think the steps she took were even more significant, in that she is starting to realise that being Shego has its drawbacks, has started to let her own anger at Kim ebb and most importantly, is going to keep my favourite naked-mole-shark. I really do like writing Ru-Ru and the fact I was able to make his presence in the story serve as an important point of character development more than justified my desire to keep him around.
> 
> Looking at the big old picture, we are now getting closer to this mythical 'major' event and depending on how many chapters it'll take, we might actually get there in two weeks time. However, please don't hold me to that as we all know that my track record for adding in extra subplots and chapters is against me. 
> 
> Anyway, that wraps up this update and I'll see you all next time out (preferably without the pitchforks and torches). Thank you all for continuing to read this story, for all your kind words in the comments and the Kudos and for putting up with my random rubbish in this week's author notes. Until next time, adieu.
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi (the slightly singed and poked author)
> 
> P.S. For anyone who is interested, I've posted the first part of my debut novel here on Ao3. I wrote the first draft way back in 2013/14 and self-published it 18 months ago. It really was the beginning of my love of writing and the reason I'm even here writing And You And I in the first place, so please do check it out. If you like it and want to read more, just see my profile for details of how to get a free eBook copy.
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/24587473


	29. It'll be a good day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome everyone, welcome to the machine... I mean welcome to the latest update of And You And I.
> 
> First and foremost, a huge thank you yet again to you all for the comments and kudos. And I'm thrilled that over fifty of you have now subscribed to this story. I hope you are all still enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it. 
> 
> This week, as promised, I have another three chapters for you to enjoy. So, since I've not got much more to bang on about at the moment, let's get straight on with things. First up, chapter 29: It'll be a good day. The name of this one being a song from Yes' album The Ladder. Some of you might even remember that it was going to be the name of chapter 17 before that update went from one to six chapters in length. Still, better late than never. In this instance, the title says it all and reflects the more positive vibe that Shego is now feeling. Enjoy and I'll see you all shortly.

For the second morning running, Shego awoke at six am to the sound of Ru-Ru. It seemed that a combination of her own internal body clock and the naked-mole-shark’s ridiculously loud snoring was more than an adequate replacement for an alarm clock. She felt oddly calm as she climbed out of bed and sleepily wandered into her wardrobe to pull on some training gear. In fact, by the time she had gone outside to start her run and thus properly woken up, she might even have said her mind felt rather tranquil, serene even. However, that did not stop the thought, _damn little Miss Go,_ from sneaking into her head as she made her way into the woods that surrounded her house. Only the proof was in the pudding. After last nights internalised argument, she felt better, more sure of herself than she had done in over two weeks.

After she had done an hour’s circuit over the rough and uneven terrain of the woods, Shego returned to the house, stopped off in the kitchen for a bottle of water and then headed down into the basement to work on her moves. It felt good to be able to fully concentrate on her techniques and not have them skewed by an anger she struggled to control. When she was finished, she had a nice relaxing shower, dressed in her traditional green and black catsuit and then went to wake her new roommate.

“Hey, Ru-Ru,” Shego said as she flicked his little pink belly with a finger.

“Mrgh!” the naked-mole-shark exclaimed as he rolled over away from her.

She prodded him again. “Come on, you lazy sod, up you get.”

“Rah, rah, rah,” Ru-Ru grunted irritably and shifted himself further away from her.

Shego increased the temperature in her finger. “Ok, don’t say I didn’t try this the nice way,” she said and touched his backside with the hot digit.

“YEOW!” Ru-Ru yelled and leapt two feet into the air. He landed back down on the cushion, scrambled to his feet and shook one of his little fists at her as he uttered a string of unintelligible curses.

“Well, if that’s how you feel, I guess you’d be better off going back to Amy after all.”

Ru-Ru tilted his head, “huh?”

“This isn’t some sort of hippie commune I’m running. If you’re going to be staying here then there are certain rules you’ll be following.” Shego looked him straight in his beady little eyes. “So, you’ll have to decide whether you prefer my rules or Amy’s.”

A wide smile formed on the naked-mole-shark’s face and Shego didn’t need to hear him say, “your rules, your rules,” to know that he’d do whatever it took if it meant he didn’t have to go back to Amy. However, that only led her to wonder, _what could possibly have been that bad about living with Amy that he’ll blindly pick my rules?_

“I’m glad we understand each other. So, first things first, I eat breakfast at eight-thirty. If you miss it, then you go hungry.”

A slightly sour expression formed on the naked-mole-shark’s face but he nodded nonetheless.

Shego laughed, “you really are cranky in the morning,” and held out her hand for him to climb onto.

Ru-Ru huffed at the comment but hopped onto her hand, then scampered up to her shoulder.

She turned her head to look at him. “I thought I said no ridding on my shoulder?”

He held up two of his tinny claws in the ‘little bit’ gesture and gave her a sneaky smile, “meh.”

Shego rolled her eyes and walked out of the room. _I am definitely going soft._ She headed downstairs and into the kitchen, where she deposited Ru-Ru on the breakfast bar. “Right, rule two. You either eat what I’m having for breakfast or something I can easily make, like toast or cereal, or you go hungry.”

Surprisingly, Ru-Ru’s eyes lit up as he uttered, “mmm, toast. Mmm, cereal. Yum-yum.”

She gave him a sideways look. “What did Amy feed you for breakfast?”

“Tubers, yuck-yuck!” As though to emphasize this, Ru-Ru stuck out his tongue and quickly rubbed at it with his paws, like he was trying to rid himself of the memory of the taste.

“Ha,” Shego laughed. “She actually fed you like a normal naked-mole-rat. Guess she wasn’t aware that the buffoon never read the diet part of the manual when it came to looking after Rufus.” An evil grin formed on her lips. “I suppose I know exactly how to punish you if you misbehave now.”

Ru-Ru shuddered and then gave her a sweet smile that said, _“I’ll be good, honest.”_

Shego had seen that look before, both from her younger brothers; the Wego’s and from children she had taught. “You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?”

The naked-mole-shark’s smile morphed into a grin and he gave her the ‘little bit’ gesture with his paw again.

“Guess I’ll be buying extra potatoes when I next go to the store,” she replied with a smile and turned to look in the fridge to see what the options were.

It transpired that it was either eggs, eggs or eggs. _Looks like that trip to the store will have to be tonight._ Nevertheless, she managed to whip up a large omelette with the remains of an onion; a pack of ham and what cheese Ru-Ru had not eaten since his arrival on Saturday night. The naked-mole-shark’s beady little eyes lit up like he’d just won the lottery and his mouth salivated when she served him his portion, which he quickly devoured. She laughed as she ate her own; when he lounged on his plate and started licking it clean. _Ok, so maybe having the little guy around won’t be so bad. He is kind of funny._ When they had finished eating, she shoved all the dishes in the dishwasher and turned it on.

She then turned to Ru-Ru. “Right, it’s time to go to work.”

The naked-mole-shark waved his little paw and said, “bye-bye.”

Shego smirked at him. “Don’t think you’re getting to sit around and watch TV all day. You’re coming too.”

A look of annoyance formed on Ru-Ru’s face and he folded his arms, “ut-uh.”

“Uh-hu,” she replied. “If you’re going to be staying here, you’re going to earn your keep. Besides, we need to deal with the Amy problem, as I’m not having her randomly show up when I’m out and about, with an army of your siblings; demanding your return.” She’d made the decision to confront the Amy issue head-on while out on her run, for the very reason she’d just given.

Ru-Ru gulped and then nodded his head, as he said, “ok-ok.” He then hopped down off of the breakfast bar, via one of the stools and underside shelving, and scurried across the floor.

Shego’s eyes widened and before she could stop him, the little blighter scampered up her left leg and into the utility pouch on it. “Oh no. No, no, no, no, no,” she said quickly and bent down. “If you think you are travelling like Rufus, you can forget it.” She opened the flap on the pouch and glared at the naked-mole-shark, “out!”

Ru-Ru shook his head, “ut-uh,” snatched the pouch flap from her grasp and closed it over.

“You little shit,” Shego exclaimed as she tugged at the flap, however, the naked-mole-shark was doing an exceptionally good job of holding it shut from the inside. Eventually, much to her annoyance, she was forced to give up. “It’s potatoes for you for dinner,” she said firmly as she straightened up.

The pouch opened just long enough for Ru-Ru to blow a raspberry at her before it closed again.

Needless to say, this did not help with the outrage Shego felt at having lost the fight over how the naked-mole-shark would be travelling. Stomping into the garage, she pulled on her helmet and gloves, then climbed aboard the Blackbird. Opening the garage door, she wasted no time in guiding the bike out and closing it behind her. She flipped up the visor on her helmet as she revved the engine. “You’d better hold on tight in there,” she said as she glanced towards her left leg.

Ru-Ru poked his head out, a wide grin on his face. He nodded and said, “uh-hu, uh-hu, zoom-zoom,” before vanishing again.

Shego closed her visor, put the bike into first gear and did just that.

##

It was just going on nine o’clock when Shego arrived in the main chamber of Dr Drakken’s lair. The mad scientist was nowhere to be seen, so she headed into the kitchenette to brew a pot of coffee. It had just finished percolating when the man finally staggered through the door.

“Rough night, Dr D?” she asked upon seeing his bleary eyes.

“Rough!” Drakken barked, “I couldn’t get to sleep knowing that beastly little creature of Amy’s might sneak up on me.”

“So, you couldn’t find him, huh” she replied airily.

“No I couldn’t and a fat lot of help you were yesterday!”

“Yeah, well, like I said, it was the weekend and I was busy.” Shego heard a grumble emanate from the pouch on her leg and felt Ru-Ru begin to stir inside it, no doubt about to pop out and try to bite Drakken for his comment. An evil thought crossed her mind and she hastily bent down and put a hand over it. “Not yet,” she hissed quietly, “just wait, you’ll get your revenge.”

“Did you say something, Shego,” Drakken said as he slumped into one of the seats at the table.

“I said, let me make it up to you and fix you some breakfast,” she replied, quickly straightening up.

“Oh,” Drakken said thoughtfully. “Yes, well, I could use some strong coffee and a bowl of Lucky Charms.”

She smiled to herself, “coming right up.” She waited until Drakken had slumped his head on the table before reaching down and plucking Ru-Ru out of the pouch on her leg. Fetching a large cereal bowl, she deposited him inside, gave him a wink and then covered him in lucky charms. Placing the bowl, a spoon, two mugs, the coffee pot and a carton of milk on a tray, she headed over to where her boss was sat.

“Here you are, Dr Drakken,” she said sweetly. She set the tray down on the table, poured coffee into the mugs, adding milk and sugar to her own and then deposited herself in the chair opposite him. She sipped her coffee quietly as she waited.

In his sleep-deprived state, Drakken did not even look like he would question why she was being so nice to him. She watched him pour milk into the bowl and decided she should probably distract him. “So, what did you do all night if you couldn’t sleep.”

A smile quickly formed on Drakken’s blue face. “I managed to devise a new plan to take over the world!”

While externally Shego continued to smile at the mad scientist, internally she rolled her eyes. This charade eerily similar to when she had been under the influence of the man’s compliance chip. _What is he planning to do this time? Build a new doomsday device atop an active volcano?_

“It’s my most brilliant scheme ever! I am going to build a lightning cannon, which will be able to arc around the entire globe and hit any target I desire. Thereby eliminating the need for all the satellites and mirror systems required for a death-ray!” Drakken exclaimed, sounding exceptionally pleased with himself. He had just lifted the spoon from the bowl, atop which Ru-Ru was perched, as he added, “I call it the…”

“Lightning-ray?” Shego butt in, predicting where the man was headed.

A look of twisted infuriation formed on Drakken’s face and the spoon stopped mid-air. “That’s not what I was going to call it at all! I was going to call it the… ohh… umm…”

“Yeah, you were so going to call it the lightning-ray,” she replied in a sassy voice.

“Fine, so what if I was going to call it the lightning-ray! It’s my doomsday weapon, I’ll call it what I like!”

Shego watched and struggled to maintain a straight face as Drakken lifted the spoon towards his mouth. The mad scientist turned his attention to it and came face to face with Ru-Ru. His eyes widened just as the naked-mole-shark bellowed, “BAWH!!!!” Drakken dropped the spoon as he shot into the air, yelling and screeching like a little girl. She burst into a fit of hysterics as he landed atop the high back of his chair and clung to it for dear life; like he was some comical cartoon character. Ru-Ru had landed back in the bowl and was ending himself in a bout of evil laughter.

“SHEGO! IT’S THAT LITTLE BEAST OF AMY’S! QUICK, GET IT!” Drakken screamed as he pointed a trembling finger at the naked-mole-shark. When she responded by laughing even harder, the mad scientist’s expression morphed into one of outrage. “THE TWO OF YOU WERE IN ON THIS TOGETHER!”

Shego tried to straighten her face as she said, “well, doy, you think?” but one look at the sour expression on Drakken’s face caused her to break down into another fit of hysterics.

“That’s it! I won’t stand for this!” Drakken declared as he climbed down off of his chair. “I’ll deal with this myself.”

She watched him storm off and then turned to look at Ru-Ru, who had started to slurp his way through Drakken’s lucky charms. They exchanged wicked smirks and she reached out and gave him a high-five. Her gaze then shot up when the mad scientist’s shadow loomed over them. Just in the nick of time, she saw the baseball bat descend towards the bowl of cereal and was able to ignite her plasma and slice it in two with an upward knife-hand. “Hold it, Dr D,” she yelled the second the danger had passed.

“Shego, what are you doing?” Drakken shouted in return. “I was about to crush the little beast and be rid of it for good.”

“Not a chance,” she said firmly, plucking the other half of the baseball bat from his grasp and turning it to ash. “First, his name’s Ru-Ru, so get used to using it. Second, he’s under my protection, so try attacking him again and you’ll have me to deal with.” She raised her ignited hand to emphasize the point.

Drakken visibly gulped under the intense glare from her emerald green eyes and the sight of her plasma.

“And third, he’s staying with me, so you’d better get used to having him around the lair.”

As she spoke, Ru-Ru nodded his head and said, “uh-hu, uh-hu.” And when she finished, he gave Drakken an evil smile and blew him a raspberry.

“WHAT!” Drakken exclaimed as his eyes popped out of his head. “Shego, you can’t be serious! That little beast is an uncontrollable terror!”

“Yeah, well, tough luck to you, Dr D, because I am.”

“But… that little… it...” Drakken spluttered. He then paused as a smile formed on his face. “Wait a minute, he doesn’t belong to you. All I have to do is telephone Amy and she’ll come right over and take him away. Yes, ha-ha!” The man’s gaze fell upon the naked-mole-shark, “one little phone call and it’ll be bye-bye beastie.”

Ru-Ru shook his head, “ut-uh, ut-uh!”

“Sorry, Dr D, but that’s not going to happen,” Shego said firmly, drawing Drakken’s attention upon her.

“Say what?”

“I’ll be calling Amy myself and telling her that Ru-Ru’s going to be staying with me, **permanently**.”

Drakken’s expression darkened and he scowled at her. “Amy’s never going to agree to that. Besides, since when did you become little Miss Charity?”

“I didn’t. He’ll be earning his keep,” Shego replied. “Although, he is rather amusing to have around.” She flashed her boss a wicked smile, “especially given his disposition towards you.”

Drakken sat back down at the table and picked up his spoon. Only when he went to scoop up some cereal, he found nothing but a naked-mole-shark. His expression darkened once again and he glared at Ru-Ru. “Why you little…”

“At-at-ah, Dr D,” Shego admonished and waggled a lit finger at him. “No touchy my naked-mole-shark.”

Drakken growled as he snatched the bowl from the table and stormed off to the kitchenette to refill it.

When he was seated once more, Shego chose to move things along; otherwise nothing would get done. “So, operation lightning-ray. How is that going to work?”

“Ish quhite shimple, Sheho,” Drakken said, his mouth full of cereal. He swallowed before continuing, “you’re going to steal me this list of components,” he fished inside his coat and tossed a rather lengthy list to her, “and I’m going to build it.”

“Well, doy, tell me something I don’t know,” Shego replied sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. She picked up the list and began to scan it. _Damn, I’m going to be busy for at least two weeks stealing all this._ She then laughed internally. _Sucks to be you, Kimmie. You’re going to be stuck in anger for about two weeks before this thing is ready to rock and roll._ Surprisingly, thinking about her rival did not bring about the anger she herself had felt since their disastrous Friday night. However, she did not have time to ponder the implications of this, as Drakken finally responded.

“We’ll need a lot of juice to power my new lightning-ray, so we’ll be constructing a new lair.”

Shego pinched the bridge of her nose. Nothing said major expenditure quite like a new lair; even if Drakken had been constructing them, ‘on the cheap,’ as Killigan would say. “Please tell me this one’s going to have a nice sunny beach within a ten-minute walk.” _I really do need a vacation._

“Sorry, Shego,” Drakken said as he looked up from his breakfast, a maniacal glint in his eyes, “but this one’s going to be hotter than any beach,” he rubbed his hands together, “much hotter.”

Internally she did a facepalm, _aww crap, here we go!_ “Please tell me it’s not…”

“Yes, Shego!” Drakken declared triumphantly. His voice then rose in pitch and bombast as he announced, “this lair will be built atop an active volcano!”

 _You have got to be kidding me! I was joking when I had that thought earlier!_ “Ok, slow down there, Dr D. This sounds like a colossal waste of time **and** money. Can’t we just use some mad-science batteries to power this thing?”

“No, Shego, this isn’t some stupid death-ray,” Drakken said in irritation at the fact she was trying to rain on his parade. “The amount of power that we need to generate is far beyond the capabilities of a couple of mad-science batteries.”

“Then let’s build the damn thing and then go commandeer a nuclear reactor.”

“What? Out of the question. A doomsday weapon such as this demands its own facility in the most extreme and dangerous of conditions.”

Shego sighed, _this plan sounds like it’s been plucked right out of that stupid guide to super-villainy._ “You’re doing this purely for the aesthetics of it and to stroke your own ego.”

“As the **super-villain** , it is my prerogative to do so, Shego,” Drakken replied dismissively. “And as the **sidekick** , it’s **your** job to cut the backchat and go out and start stealing the components **I** need to build it.”

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to get right on that, Dr D,” she replied offhandedly as she stood up. “Right after I deal with Amy.”

Drakken huffed and looked like he was about to protest, however, a timely intervention from Ru-Ru, who gnashed his razor-sharp shark teeth at him, put pay to it before the man even opened his mouth.

“Come on, Ru-Ru, let’s go have a little chat with Amy.”

She held out her hand and the naked-mole-shark hopped on and scampered up to her shoulder. Leaving the main chamber, she went to the much quieter study and sat down at the videophone. Picking Ru-Ru up off her shoulder, she set him down in front of the screen as she began scrolling through the contacts list. When she found the one labelled DNAmy, she hit the call button and had to drag the naked-mole-shark back into view by his fin, as he had tried to tiptoe away.

“Hello?” the voice of DNAmy eventually answered, before she appeared on the screen.

“Hey, Amy, it’s Shego,” she replied.

“Oh, hello there, Sweetie, how are…” Amy trailed off as she caught sight of the naked-mole-shark. “Ru-Ru, there you are! Thank science; I was so worried about you. You are such a menace!” The woman then returned her gaze to Shego. “I hope he hasn’t caused you and Drewbie too much trouble.”

“No,” she replied, giving Ru-Ru a thin smile, “I’ve managed to keep him under control. He stowed away inside my jacket on Saturday night.”

Amy looked appalled as she frowned at the naked-mole-shark. “Ru-Ru, you naughty boy! When you get home, there’ll be no junk food for you for a month!”

Ru-Ru quickly scampered over to hide behind the elbow Shego had rested atop the table and he looked up at her, his gaze almost pleading.

 _Wow, life with Amy must really be bad for him, especially if he is subconsciously aware of how good Rufus has it with Stoppable._ It was with difficulty that she gave him a reassuring smile. The act of kindness, on top of what she was about to do for him, falling out with the parameters that defined her Shego persona. _I can do this. It’s my life and I can choose to do whatever I want._ An image of Miss Go nodding at her in approval formed in her mind when she opened her mouth to say, “yeah, about that, Amy... Ru-Ru doesn’t want to go home to you.”

“Well, of course he doesn’t, given how much trouble he’s in,” Amy said, her gaze then drifted to where the naked naked-mole-shark was hiding, “isn’t that right, you little scamp?”

Shego fixed Amy with a firm look and reiterated, “Ru-Ru doesn’t want to go home to you,” she paused for the briefest of moments before adding, “and I don’t want him to go either. He’s staying with me.”

A look of shock, mixed with astonishment and hurt formed on Amy’s face and she stammered, “wha… wha… what?”

“I’m sorry Amy, but Ru-Ru’s staying with me,” Shego emphasised.

The geneticist ignored her as she stared at the naked-mole-shark in anguish, “Ru-Ru, don’t you love mommy?”

Ru-Ru stepped out from his hiding place, looked at his creator and said, “ut-uh,” as he shook his little head.

Amy looked as though she had just been stabbed in the heart by her own creation. “B...B...But... Ru-Ru... mommy loves you...”

In what was becoming a rather common uncharacteristic display of empathy, Shego said, “I’m sorry, Amy.”

The woman’s teary eyes then hardened as her attention snapped back to Shego. “This is all your fault! You had him wrapped around your little finger on Saturday and probably coerced him into leaving with you. I bet you’ve then let him do what he wants for a day and it’s all gone to his little head.”

“’Fraid not, Amy. He stowed away in my jacket of his own volition because he hoped I would let him stay with me.” Shego elected not to state that she had initially been opposed to the idea.

“Y… you… you can’t keep him!” the geneticists blurted out. “I created him, I’m his mother. You don’t love him!”

“And you don’t either, Amy, not really,” Shego fired back. “You claim to, but in reality, each creature you create simply becomes your favourite until you make the next one. They’re no more than collectables to you, just like your Cuddle Buddies.”

“You can’t have him. He belongs to me! I need him for my collection!”

A smirk formed on her face and she had the distinct impression that this was exactly how Miss Go felt when she successfully led her into a pitfall trap. “Case and point, Amy. Ru-Ru’s not a possession for us to fight over. He’s a sentient being that is capable of making his own choices. Isn’t that right, Ru-Ru?”

The naked-mole-shark looked up at her and nodded, “uh-hu, uh-hu.”

“And he’s decided that he’d rather stay with me.”

Ru-Ru nodded again, “uh-hu, uh-hu, stay with Shego.”

Amy looked completely flabbergasted. “But... that’s not... you can’t...” she stammered.

Sensing a weakening in the geneticists resolve, she moved in for the kill. “He’s not happy living with you, Amy. I think he’s subconsciously aware of the life Rufus has with Stoppable. After all, you did clone him from Rufus before you genetically spliced him with a shark.”

The woman looked at the naked-mole-shark. “Were you really that unhappy, Ru-Ru?”

Ru-Ru nodded, “uh-hu. Yucky tubers! Icky beddy-bye time.”

“But, Ru-Ru, if you’re that unhappy, we can change those things,” Amy said in desperation. “I’ll let you have some cheese with your tubers and you can stay up half an hour longer.”

The naked-mole-shark shook his head, “ut-uh, Shego.”

Amy looked like she was about to burst into tears. “Do you really want to stay with Shego?”

The naked-mole-shark nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he exclaimed, in a manner that reminded her of a certain cartoon dog.

“I’ll take good care of him,” Shego said quickly, trying to ease some of the pain she could see this was causing Amy.

The woman let out a loud sniffle and dabbed her eyes with a flowery handkerchief. “O...o...ok...” Amy paused to blow her nose before adding, “if it’s what will make you happy, Ru-Ru.”

Perhaps it was in an attempt to continue to push beyond the boundaries of being Shego, or maybe she had just gone mad, but, without really thinking of the implications for herself, she then said, “next time Drakken has game day, I’ll bring him over.”

Amy nodded, “that would be nice.” She then looked down at the naked-mole-shark, “bye-bye, Ru-Ru. Mommy will miss you.”

Ru-Ru waved a little paw and said, “bye-bye.” The second the line went dead, he turned to Shego and gave her a mischievous grin that said, _“I told you so.”_

“Yeah-yeah, well done,” Shego said grudgingly, “just don’t think I’m going to be that much of a pushover when it comes to the house rules.”

She received a look that clearly said, _“is that a challenge.”_

Rolling her eyes, she picked up the list Dr Drakken had handed her earlier. “Right, ready to head out and steal us some high-tech goodies?”

Ru-Ru grinned at her and gnashed his teeth, presumably at the prospect of getting to give some unsuspecting security guard the chomp, “uh-hu, uh-hu!” He then hopped down off the table and before Shego could stop him, scampered up her leg and into her utility pouch.

Instead of trying to fight with him, she simply pinched the bridge of her nose, _urgh! At the rate I’m going, I might as well just put on the stupid teal headband and invite Kimmie out for coffee._ She quickly shook her head. _No, focus, Shego, you’ve got work to do. Besides, given the stunt you pulled last night, going for coffee will be the last thing Princess will want to do with you._ Putting the thought to one side, she wandered out of the study. With Amy now safely dealt with, it was time to get to work.


	30. Marooned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, chapter two of three. The chapter title this time, Marooned, is the name of an instrumental track from Pink Floyd's The Division Bell. In this instance, I think it is a good fit for how stuck Kim is both inside her own head and the Possible house. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy.

If Kim Possible had thought the previous night had been bad, it was nothing compared to the one she had just endured. While the codeine had initially sent her into ga-ga land, she had woken up in the middle of the night in a massive fit of coughing and subsequently struggled to breathe. Fortunately, her mom had, unbeknownst to her, gotten the Tweebs to set up a glorified baby monitoring system and so the woman too had been wakened and rushed up the stairs to give her oxygen. She’d also been dripping with sweat and required both a pyjama and bedsheet change before she could settle back down. Her temperature had then gone up and down like a yo-yo for the remainder of the night and the pain from her ribs had returned twofold once the codeine had worn off. Her whimpers must have been enough to wake her mom a second time because she’d soon found herself with a cold compress on her forehead, while her mom prepared a small syringe. At the time, she’d had enough of her wits to ask what it contained, to which her mom had replied, _“morphine.”_ While curious, the guilt at her mom having done something so unethical on her behalf, prevented Kim from asking how exactly she had acquired it. However, it mattered naught, as the drug had quickly taken effect and sent her back into the land of dragons and fables.

Kim had finally been roused at about eleven am by her mom. Groggily, she had eaten breakfast, allowed herself to be led out of bed and much like a robot, complied to each of the commands the woman had given her as she underwent a thorough examination and been given her morning dose of antibiotics. It was only when she had stepped out of the wardrobe, after having had more x-rays taken, that she finally woke up enough to say, “how bad am I?” She had not even considered suggesting that she was fine, because they both knew she felt awful and for once, Kim did not feel like trying to hide it. She then broke out into another coughing fit, the third or was that fourth, since she had woken.

“It’s not good news, Kimmie,” her mom replied from the desk, where she sat staring at the digital x-rays. “The stress you put your lungs under last night has caused the infection to worsen. Not to mention that you’ve probably set the healing of your ribs back by a few days.”

“Recovery time,” she asked, dreading the response. In hindsight, this was a question she probably should have asked yesterday. However, because she’d felt fine, bar the pain coming from her ribs, she hadn’t thought it necessary. She would have gone off on a light mission today and simply taken whatever painkillers she needed to keep her going. Rinse and repeat until it had fully subsided. Only now, given how she currently felt, she knew a few days on the sidelines was inevitable.

“It’s going to be several days before that infection clears up, if we keep treating it with antibiotics. As for your ribs, normal recovery time is about three weeks, but given how fast you heal, they should be done in about two. **If** you don’t overexert yourself.”

“Two weeks!” Kim exclaimed. Her eyes then darted to the bracelet on her right wrist. While she was yet to test it, if it did as her mom claimed and brought down the respective blast shutters when she went within four feet of a window or outside door, she’d need to find some way to circumvent it. _I’ll go insane if I’m stuck here for two weeks and that’s before adding in the Tweeb factor._ She recalled the last time she’d been side-lined; with her back. She had been figuratively clawing at the walls by day four and only managed to last one week before she’d gone back into the field.

“I’m sorry, Kimmie, but that’s how long it takes to recover from broken ribs. And that’s assuming your body does indeed heal at an increased rate.”

“I can’t take two weeks off! What if Drakken or some other villain tries to take over the world?”

“Then someone else will just need to handle it, because you’re grounded until I say otherwise, Missy,” her mom said in her no-nonsense, no-argument tone, as she stood up from the computer.

“Mom! You can’t seriously expect me to stay here for two weeks,” Kim exclaimed. “The Tweebs will drive me mental. Can’t I go home once my cough clears up?”

“If I thought you would listen to sound medical advice, I might have let you go home today,” her mom admonished. “But your actions last night proved that I can’t trust you to take proper care of yourself. So, you’ll be staying here until I decide otherwise.”

Kim opened her mouth to convey her displeasure, but all that came out was another series of coughs.

“You need to rest, Kim. And I think this time off will give you the chance to stop and think about some important matters that you’ve been neglecting, like your friends for instance. Monique was quite upset when I spoke to her last weekend after what you said about nothing here at home being enough for you. Not to mention the fight the two of you got into last night.”

On hearing her mom’s words, Kim had a sinking feeling that the woman had already spoken to Monique about what happened last night. _How much have the two of them been communicating?_ She quickly decided that the amount was immaterial. All that mattered was that over the past forty-eight hours, it had become crystal clear that the two women had been discussing her at length behind her back. “If you want to know what’s going on in my life, why don’t you try asking me first,” she said testily.

“I do, but all I ever get from you is half-truths and a coat of whitewash,” her mom replied firmly. Then much to Kim’s chagrin, the woman added, “Monique has a point, Kim. You seem to be rapidly losing touch with everyone and everything you used to care about.”

 _I feel absolutely crap, yet am still having to put up with this shit!_ She felt the anger from last night resurface and before she could stop herself, she spat with venom, “what, so you think I’m living in my own little Kim Possible world too, do you?” recalling the phrase Monique had used.

Her mom looked slightly taken aback by her tone and quickly said, “I didn’t say that, Kim.”

However, she was in no mood to accept the attempt to placate her. “But it’s what you mean, isn’t it? You and Monique are as bad as each other. You both think you know what’s best for me, but you’re wrong. It’s my life and I can do what I want. I can do anything!” She reached over and futilely started clawing at the bracelet that encircled her right wrist. “And take this stupid thing off! I’m going home!”

“No, Kimberly Ann, I won’t,” her mom replied sternly.

Kim shot her mom a murderous glare but her olive-green eyes met with blues that looked to have been reinforced with some mad-science steel. “MOM!” she yelled viciously, “TAKE IT OFF! NOW!” she had just managed to bellow the final word before she broke down in another coughing fit. Immediately, her mom was at her side and helped guide her back over to the bed. When she was seated, she gratefully took the oxygen mask the woman held out to her and began to suck in slow breaths.

“Kimmie, you can’t overexert your lungs like that,” her mom said in a voice full of tenderness and love; the stern admonishment having vanished. The woman then sat down beside her and gently began to rub her back.

Kim briefly lowered the mask. “I want to go home,” she said firmly, before replacing it.

“I’m sorry, Kimmie, but I can’t let you do that. This is for your own good.”

Sensing that she would not get her way, but feeling no less angry, Kim lay down on her bed and rolled over so that her back was now to her mom. She slipped the mask down only to say, “then just leave me alone!”

Kim felt her mom stand up and drape the duvet over her. “I need to go and get ready for work. The codeine is on your nightstand, take two every four hours or three if your pain increases again. I’ll hopefully be back by ten o’clock tonight to come and check you over.” Her mother then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, but she shrugged away from her.

Kim listened to her mom’s footsteps become fainter as the woman left her old bedroom. The coughing fit had caused her ribs to ache again, but that was not the reason why she pummelled her fist against the mattress. _Who does she think she is, conspiring with Monique behind my back? This is exactly why I don’t stay home for very long and why I neglected to call her last week; because when I do, all I get this bullshit. I can take care of myself **and** know what’s best for me. It’s my life, I can do what I want with it! _

Inside her head, Kim heard a voice say, _“exactly, Princess. It’s your life you can do what **you** want with it.” _

_Shego!_ she barked internally, her interior eyes scanning her mind for any sign of the green-skinned woman.

 _“The one and only,”_ the voice replied. _“Well, the one and only inside your head. But let’s not get into that existential debate, we’ve got bigger issues to deal with.”_

Kim closed her eyes as she intensified her internal search for her rival. _Where are you? Show yourself!_

_“Right here, Cupcake.”_

The voice was akin to a whisper in her ear and she spun around, coming face to face with the green-skinned woman; clad in her usual catsuit.

_“Miss me?”_

Without thinking, internal Kim lashed out with a vicious axe-kick, but Shego effortlessly evaded it with a neat backstep.

An amused smile tugged at the corners of her rival’s mouth. _“Didn’t I tell you that it’s rude to ask a lady to dance before buying her a drink first?”_

 _Screw you!_ she spat and she leapt after the green-skinned woman, quickly rattling off a turning-kick, hook-kick, axe-kick combo.

Shego evaded them all but did not throw a single punch or kick in return.

 _FIGHT BACK!_ Kim bellowed. Taking to the air, she fired off her four-front-snap-kick combo, only to have Shego catch her leg on the last one and hurl her to the ground. Even though it was all in her head, she felt the pain shooting through her right-hand ribs as though it had happened in real life. Through watery eyes, she could only watch, helpless as her rival lazily advanced towards her.

When the green-skinned woman finally towered over her, Shego effortlessly prodded her in the chest in order to roll her onto her back. A foot was then planted atop Kim’s throat, with just enough pressure to convince her not to try and raise her hands. _“Now, where have I seen this before,”_ Shego said in mock thought as she tapped her chin with one finger. _“Ah yes, I remember, this is exactly how you looked last night when I kicked your ass. Don’t you agree, Kimmie?”_

She drew a ragged breath in through gritted teeth. Given that the woman was bang on, refuting the claim would be pointless. Instead, she fired back, _if you’re done being a Disney villain, let me up!_

_“Sorry, Princess, not until we’ve had a little chat._

Kim stared murderously at her rival. _Shego! Let me up now!_

_“Or what, Kimmie? Are you going to set Stevie-boy on me?”_

At the mention of Barkin-dragon, her eyes darted around in search of him, but he was nowhere to be seen.

As if to answer her unasked question, Shego then said, _“he’s taking a long nap after you KO’d him last night with that shit show in Heartbeats, followed by your pursuit of yours truly. And if I have my way, he’ll be getting the boot before he has the chance to wake up.”_

 _What the hell are you talking about?_ she spat.

 _“You, Kimmie. You and your continual refusal to accept that you don’t like boys,”_ a thin smile formed on Shego’s lips, _“that you actually like girls.”_

Kim felt her anger towards her rival intensify, as another shovel of coal was heaped onto the furnace. _I do not._

Shego rolled her eyes. _“Seriously, after you completely failed to feel anything while snogging that boy last night, you’re still going to peddle that bullshit?”_

 _It’s not bullshit,_ Kim said hotly, but there was a hint of desperation about her voice, _I like boys! Now, let me up!_

 _“Really? Well, why don’t we put that to the test?”_ Shego then gave her a wolfish grin as instantaneously, she changed from her catsuit into her green and black swimsuit. Like a bolt of lightning, the green-skinned woman descended atop her chest and pinned her arms to the ground with her knees.

 _Fuck you!_ Kim yelled as she hopelessly struggled under what felt like an impossibly heavy dead weight. Her eyes then found themselves staring at Shego’s crotch. Involuntarily, her gaze slowly travelled up the woman’s taught midriff, over her voluptuous breasts, past the playful smile on her lips and to those piercing emerald eyes. All the while, her heart rate kicked up a notch and her breathing became slightly more ragged.

 _“Like what you see, Kimmie?”_ Shego replied seductively as she rotated her hips and tossed her mane of raven-hair backwards.

 _Yes; No,_ given that this was all happening inside her head, she managed to utter both responses at the same time. She stared up at her rival in confusion.

 _“Hmm, sounds like someone’s a little confused. I suppose that’s a start.”_ Shego sensually ran her hands up her own body, raised them high above her head and arched her back as she stretched. _“How about we cut through all this bullshit of yours?”_

Not trusting her mouth not to betray her, Kim clamped it shut, as the woman put one of her green-tinged fingers into her own mouth and seductively sucked. It emerged enveloped in her plasma. In what could only be described as a mix of horror and lust, she watched Shego provocatively drag it down her chest; slicing the fabric of her bathing suit in two. When it cleared her breasts, the two large mounds broke free and caused a breath to catch in Kim’s throat. She stared transfixed at Shego’s perfectly round breasts, with their large dark green nipples. Her heart rate increased further. She felt the urge to reach up and touch them but was prevented from doing so by the raven-haired woman herself, whose knees still pinned her arms to the ground. However, Shego was not finished and Kim’s eyes were drawn downward as the lit finger ran over the woman’s midriff and towards her crotch. She could practically feel her heart in her mouth when she caught her first sight of jet-black pubic hair.

When Shego’s finger reached the base of her swimsuit, she straightened up and then burned the tattered remains from her skin in a shimmer of green flames. Now completely naked, she pressed her breasts together as she wiggled her hips. _“See, you’re all hot and bothered at the mere sight of me.”_ The woman then began to rub at her own nipples and Kim could feel hers stiffening in response. _“Well, aren’t those nice and perky.”_

Kim tore her eyes away from her rival’s breasts and met her gaze, _what do you…_ she trailed off when she received a wicked smile and her gaze hurriedly darted south to see that she too was butt naked. _ARGH!_ she exclaimed in alarm, _SHEGO! How did you do that! Give me my clothes back this instant!_

 _“Nothing to do with me, Princess,”_ the green-skinned woman said in a sultry voice.

Kim then felt her wrists being seized in Shego’s vice-like grasp and pinned above her head. Helpless, she could do nothing as the woman slithered her lithe frame backwards and gently pressed their bodies together. A jolt, like a bolt of lightning striking her, surged through her body when their breasts came into contact and their nipples rubbed together. It was like nothing Kim had ever experienced before.

Shego then brought her black lips to Kim’s ear and whispered, _“this is all in **your** head, Princess. Now,” _she raised her head slightly and piercing emerald eyes bored into olive-greens, _“look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t like girls.”_

Kim screwed up her eyes as she wrestled against Shego, against herself and everything she had been taught throughout her whole life about sexuality. She knew that part of her wanted to scream yes, to entwine herself in the green-skinned woman’s embrace and meet those black lips with her own pink ones. Except the weight of family, friends, school and society, all having told her that she should like boys, proved too much for her to surmount. “No…” she whimpered, feeling as though she had just taken a blow to her injured ribs, “…I like boys… I like boys… I like boys!”

A monstrous roar, which could only belong to some mythological creature of gargantuan proportion, boomed out around them and was accompanied by the thundering sound of massive clawed feet. Kim’s eyes snapped open just in time to see the massive jaws of the Barkin-dragon grab Shego by the hair, wrench the woman off of her and launch her into the air. It didn’t even pause as its gigantic form leapt over her in pursuit of its quarry. Kim scrambled to her feet, once again fully clothed. In front of her, she saw the Barkin-dragon lash out with its claws and the air was filled with a blood-curdling scream. Her eyes widened in horror as she watched the beast stomp back towards her, Shego’s limp and bloody form in one set of claws.

 _“I’ve obviously not been hard enough on this one,”_ the Barkin-dragon barked, as its chest materialised on the ground beside them. The lid shot open and the beast held Shego above the breach. _“I’ll just have to lock her up tighter this time.”_

However, before it managed to thrust the green-skinned woman inside, Shego’s eyes snapped open. _“Stevie-boy can’t dictate who you are or who you like. You like girls, Kim, and that’s ok.”_

 _I like girls,_ Kim whispered to herself as Shego was slammed inside the chest and the lid snapped shut.

 _“Don’t you listen to that villainous trouble maker, Possible,”_ the Barkin-dragon bombed, _“boys like girls, boys kiss girls and boys mate with girls. End of discussion.”_

_But what if I…_

_“BOYS LIKE GIRLS!”_

_Boys like girls… and I like boys,_ Kim whispered to herself, but it sounded completely hollow.

Kim’s eyes snapped open and she had to check her surroundings to ensure that her bedroom had not become home to a massive dragon resembling her old school teacher. She looked down and saw two erect nubs in her pyjama top that she knew belonged to her nipples. She reached a hand inside her trousers and discovered to her horror that she was wet between the legs. Cheeks burning bright red, she slammed her free hand into the mattress.

“Damn you, Shego,” Kim spat viciously as her anger towards her rival boiled over once more. _This is all your fault! Not only did you have to ruin my time with Matt last night, but now you’re messing with my head again!_ She ground her teeth and sucked in a few ragged breaths. _I’m going to beat the shit out of you next time we meet!_ Unfortunately, she had not managed to take in sufficient air and so she broke out into another coughing fit. Her ribs hurt again as she struggled to sit up and put on the oxygen mask. By the time her breathing had stabilised, the pain had intensified and she knew she only had one option.

Grudgingly, Kim reached out and picked up the codeine bottle from her nightstand. Unscrewing the cap, she tipped three pills into her hand, before putting it back; knowing that nothing less would make the pain subside. _Looks like it’s back to ga-ga land for me,_ she groaned as she swallowed them with a drink of water. She then found a tissue with which to clean her downstairs parts. _Screw you, Shego!_ Lying back, amidst the soft sheets, she closed her eyes, the bulk of her mind hoping beyond hope that the green-skinned woman stayed in her chest this time. Except she had a sinking feeling that a tiny part of her brain was desperate to see her rival again. The last thought she was consciously aware of having was, _next time I see her I **have** to beat her. I **have** to drive her out of my head. _


	31. Five percent for nothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so chapter three of three. I will hold my hands up and say that this one is perhaps a bit of filler, but I didn't want to just skip forward two weeks without at least acknowledging the in-between time in some respect. So, please don't lynch me over it. The chapter title this time is a reflection of this chapters filler status, as the track five percent for nothing was exactly that on the Yes album Fragile. In fact, I have a suspicion that the band's drummer named it in reference to the fact that he got five percent of the albums writing credit money for doing thirty-five seconds of pretty much nothing. So, consider it a little in-joke. Anyway, enjoy it nonetheless and I'll see you at the end for a little chat about where we're headed next.

It had been a rough two days for Kim Possible. She’d spent the rest of Monday in her old bedroom, whacked out on codeine or asleep, she wasn’t quite sure which. She’d only returned to lucidity when her mom had woken her at ten-thirty at night; to give her something to eat, check her over and administer her next dose of antibiotics. It had been a frosty encounter. Her mom had sat and eaten with her, but Kim had not been in the mood to converse. The anger she had felt towards the woman, along with Shego, being at the forefront of her mind. When they’d finished, her mom had given her another shot of morphine, directly to her right-hand side, kissed her goodnight and then left her to go to sleep. She’d gone out like a light and managed to sleep through the night.

Tuesday had started out very much the same as Monday. Her mother had woken her, given her breakfast, her check-up and medication. Kim had then been left to her own devices while the woman had gone to work. Unfortunately, due to the high level of painkillers, she’d spent the day in bed, watching re-runs of Pals. However, every other episode seemed to contain some sort of event or scenario that would trigger a memory of Shego and she’d felt her anger towards the woman and the fact she’d questioned her sexuality, rise to the surface again. And each time, it had ended with thoughts such as, _I’m going to beat the crap out of her for this,_ and, _I don’t like girls,_ however, she’d been forced to suppress a small voice that had said, “ _or do I?”_

When her mom had come home, she’d been doped up on more codeine and escorted downstairs to dinner. While she’d not been in pain and been able to enjoy her food, she’d started to giggle at the slightest thing, funny or otherwise, even going so far as to laugh with and hug the Tweebs when they had suggested she be permanently kept on prescription level painkillers. She’d then sat with the family in the living room and they’d all watched one of her mom’s favourite Steve Martin films; The man with two brains. It must have been the drugs at work again, as she’d found it hilarious. After it had finished, her mom had then taken her back up to her old bedroom and put her to bed.

It was now Wednesday and a decrease in pain overnight had meant a decrease in painkillers come her morning check-up. While Kim still had a cough, it had markedly improved since Sunday night. Naturally, she’d asked her mom if she could go home once it had cleared up, but again been told no, much to her chagrin. So, after breakfast, a shower and watching her mom drive off down the street to go to work, it was time to take matters into her own hands.

Kim rose from the sofa and walked towards the windows. The second she got within four feet of them, the heavy blast shutters shot down over them. She took a step back and they slowly retracted. Stepping forward again brought them back down. Moving back, she waited until they had started to rise and then darted forward, only for them to react and close once more. _Damn those Tweebs! Even if I run full pelt at them, I doubt I’d be able to break through the glass without hitting a wall of steel, at least not without my rocket skates._ She smiled to herself and headed upstairs to her bedroom to get her trainers. Only when she got there and located her clothes, she found a note that read, _“nice try, Kimmie. Now go sit and watch some TV.”_

“Dammit, Mom!” Kim cursed and scrunched up the note.

Heading back downstairs, she tried the outside doors and other windows, but met with the same result; cold hard steel. She thought for a moment, _how do I get through solid steel?_ Her Kimmunicator had been confiscated on Saturday, so she couldn’t try hacking the system. However… _The Sloth!_ Her car should have the ability to either hack, blast or, at the very least, burst through the blast shields. Her mom might have her keys, but she used them more out of habit than anything else; the Tweebs having installed a voice-activated computer system that negated the actual need for them. Determinedly, Kim headed for the garage. Only when she opened the door, she was met by the sight of an empty space and another note stuck to the wall opposite. _“If you’re bored with TV, Kimmie, why don’t you read a book? P.S. before you waste your time, your Kimmunicator is back in your apartment.”_ Absolutely infuriated, she scrunched up note number two, threw it across the garage and stomped back into the house.

 _Ok, no Kimmunicator, car or gadgets. What does that leave me with?_ The answer was simple; her brain and her still run-down body. Unfortunately, she was not Shego and so could not punch her way through the steel with a fistful of green plasma. Her anger bubbled to the surface again at the thought of her rival. _Damn Shego! This is all her fault! And screw her for messing with my head and making me think I might like girls! I like…_ the answer failed to materialise … _ARGH! Fuck this shit!_ In a rage, she stormed up the stairs. _Time for plan B._

“TWEEBS!” Kim yelled as she threw the door to her brothers’ bedroom open. It hit the wall and ricocheted off it; however, she was forced to duck when some sort of laser blast shot at her from the desk opposite. She glared at her brothers, who had both turned to look at her. “TWEEBS!”

“Nice going, Kim,” Jim said irritably, “you just drained all the juice from our improved auto-turret’s power cell.

“Yeah, we’ve been charging that thing all morning and were about to take it outside to test its targeting system,” Tim added.

“I don’t care about your stupid little auto-turret,” Kim snapped. “What I care about is getting **this** ,” she held up her right wrist and pointed to the metallic bracelet, “off!”

“Prft, not our problem,” Jim said as he turned his attention back to the auto-turret on the desk.

“Take it up with mom. We’ve now got to calibrate and charge the auto-turret all over again,” Tim said and followed suit.

Needless to say, this did nothing to improve Kim’s already sour mood. Storming over to the desk, she grabbed both of her brothers by the shoulder and spun them around to face her. Shooting them a death glare, she barked, “already tried that; mom’s being difficult,” _put lightly,_ “but since I want it off and you two Tweebs created it, I’m making it your problem.”

She must have looked terrifying because she managed to elicit the same look of worry on both boys’ faces that they sported whenever something of theirs had blown up in the vicinity of their mother.

“Ok, Sis, don’t go all nuclear on us,” Jim replied nervously.

“Yeah,” Tim chipped in. “We can always spare a moment for our big sister while the auto-turret is charging.”

Satisfied that she now had their attention, Kim reiterated her demand, “I want this off. How do I do it?”

“The Alkatraz2000 is part of the Knox 3.0 security system. It’s designed to conform to the shape of the wearer’s limb so that they can’t slip, prise or cut it off,” Jim said as he took hold of her hand and stared at the bracelet like he was seeing it for the first time.

Tim followed suit. “Its position is monitored by the Skynet360 computer system, which automatically closes the blast shutters of any door or window the wearer comes within four-feet of. Its range can also be…”

“I don’t care about its technical specs!” Kim cut in. “Just tell me how I get it off.”

“You don’t,” Jim answered.

“It’s designed so that the wearer can’t take it off,” Tim added.

“Then how does it come off?” she said irritably.

“That’s easy,” both Tweebs said in unison.

“Then tell me.”

“Not so fast, Sis,” Jim said as a wide smile spread across his and his brother’s face, “that’s going to cost you.”

Kim gritted her teeth in infuriation as she watched Tim open one of the desk drawers and produce a stack of paper and a pen. “As you can see, we were prepared for this eventuality,” he said.

Her eyes travelled to what she knew was another of the Tweebs contracts and it instantly reminded her of the one she had signed in order to get them to rebuild the Sloth. The one that had made her their ‘ride monkey’. She looked at it warily. “What is it you want this time?”

“Nothing much,” Jim said with a grin.

“Just the next piece of **interesting** villain tech that you snag,” Tim finished.

Surprisingly, their demand sounded reasonable, which only led Kim to wonder what the catch was. “Define interesting.”

“The term interesting is fully defined in section 3, pages 4 to 56,” Jim replied.

“Feel free to read it if you want,” Tim added, however, held out the pen for her to take.

Kim snatched the writing implement from her brother’s grasp. “Just give me the gist of it,” she groaned.

“Basically, you let us know the next time you snag some villain tech,” Jim began.

“and if we think it’s interesting, we’ll take it and consider the contract fulfilled,” Tim finished.

“And if not?” she asked.

“We’ll wait until the next time and so on until you get something we like,” Jim answered.”

“So, are you going to sign?” Tim asked with a grin.

Grudgingly and with a feeling that she was going to regret this, Kim put pen to paper and signed her name. However, she was desperate to get the stupid bracelet off, so she could go home. Before the ink had even dried, the contract was whisked away.

"Hicka-bicka-boo?" Jim said.

"Hoo-sha!" Tim replied.

“Urgh,” Kim exclaimed upon hearing her brothers’ ridiculous catchphrase. “I’ve signed your stupid contract; now tell me how this damn thing comes off so I can get out of Tweeb-ville.”

“Via remote control,” her brothers said in unison. “It’s tuned to respond only to a specific signal sent at a specific frequency, with a signature that is unique to the remote.”

“Good,” Kim said and glared at her siblings. “Give me the remote.”

“Err… we can’t,” Jim replied, sounding worried.”

“Why not?” she barked.

“Umm… because mom has it,” Tim answered, his voice matching his brothers.

“WHAT!” Kim exploded.

“It’s not out fault!” the Tweebs retorted together. “Mom told us to ensure that there was only one way for the Alcatraz2000 to come off.”

“TWEEBS!” she bellowed, realising that her brothers had once again duped her. “The two of you are going to figure out a way to remove this blasted thing from my wrist or I’ll…” she never got the chance to say what she would do to them as at that moment she broke out into a coughing fit.

When she could see straight once more, Kim found that her brothers had skirted around her towards the door. She spun around, intending to give chase, but her eyes caught sight of a computer tower on a trolly beside the door and she stopped when she saw the words Skynet360 monitoring system. “Is that the computer that runs the house security system,” she asked as a thought quickly occurred to her.

“Yeah,” Jim said.

“Why?” Tim asked.

“Excellent,” Kim replied, a twisted smile forming on her face as she marched towards it.

Seizing the power cord, she just managed to hear her brothers yell, “WAIT, KIM, DON’T…” before she yanked it out of the wall.

A sound like rolling thunder echoed all around them and the house was plunged into darkness.

“What the?” Kim exclaimed but was quickly cut off by her brothers.

“Nice going, Kim,” Jim said irately as he flicked on the light switch.

“The house blast shutters are set to engage should the power to the system be unexpectedly cut,” Tim added.

“It’s going to take us hours to reboot it,” Jim finished.

“Great,” she moaned long-sufferingly. “Not only can I not go outside, but I also can’t even see the outside now.”

Jim snatched the power cord from her hand and plugged it back into the wall. Both Tweebs then ignored her as they procured chairs and sat down at the PC as it powered on.

Now utterly defeated in her quest to escape her imposed incarceration, Kim defeatedly said, “if anyone needs me, I’ll be downstairs watching TV,” and trudged out of the bedroom.

##

Some time after Kim was inadvertently sealing herself and her brothers inside the Possible house, Shego was lounging in the library of Dr Drakken’s lair, reading a magazine and listening to the mad scientist mutter to himself as he poured over book after book in search of a solution to his problem. After two days of successful technology heists, she’d arrived that morning to find her boss in a foul mood. Apparently, he’d made a teensy-weensy mistake in his calculations for the lightning-ray and was now desperately searching for a solution. This wouldn’t have been any skin off Shego’s nose if it had not meant that it was now pointless in her steeling anything else, as the list of required components could change at any moment. Indeed, it already had; five times.

The sound of a pencil breaking was accompanied by, “GAHH!” and Dr Drakken scrunched up another piece of paper and tossed it into the steadily filling waste paper basket. “There has to be a solution to the arcing angle problem somewhere!”

“Another one bites the dust?” Shego said airily as a thin smile formed on her lips and she flicked a page in the latest issue of Villainess magazine.

Drakken glared at her. “You could always get off your sassy backside and help!”

“Hey, you said it yourself on Monday. **You’re** the **super-villain** who builds the doomsday weapons. **I’m** just the **sidekick** who steals the components for you,” Shego replied with a smirk.

The mad scientists face contorted in outrage at having his own words flung back at him with pinpoint accuracy. “But… I didn’t… ARGH! Go get me a new pencil!”

“Prft, not a chance, Dr D,” she replied and then cast her gaze to the sofa opposite her. “Hey, Ru-Ru,” the naked-mole-shark looked up from where he was lounged beside a bag of dry-roasted peanuts, “I think someone needs their pencil sharpened again.”

Ru-Ru rolled his eyes but nevertheless got up and scampered off of the sofa, along the floor and up onto the table. Drakken visibly gulped when the naked-mole-shark snatched the pencil from his grasp. There was a short, sharp sound, like that of a buzzsaw, as Ru-Ru placed the tip of the pencil against his teeth and spun it quickly in his paws. He looked at the tip for a moment before jabbing the blue-skinned man in the hand with it.

“YOWCH!” Drakken yelped and quickly withdrew his hand. “Shego! That little beast of yours is going to give me lead poisoning!”

Shego stopped laughing to roll her eyes. “Get with the time’s, Dr D. They haven’t used lead in pencils since the seventies.”

“Well, it still hurt!” Drakken exclaimed, not realising how ridiculous that made him sound. “So, control that naked-mole-shark of yours.”

“I already do, watch. Ru-Ru, get me some M&M’s.”

She watched as the naked-mole-shark hopped down off the table scampered over to a mini-fridge, procured a packet of M&M’s and brought it to her.

“See, he does what I tell him to,” Shego said.

“Then tell him to stop attacking, biting, poking, jumping out at and threatening me!” Drakken yelled in infuriation.

She looked at Ru-Ru and gave him a wink, before replying, “what and spoil my entertainment? Dream on, Dr D.”

The mad scientist's blue face turned red and steam began rising from the top of his head as his clenched fists shook at his sides. However, instead of making some sort of threat against the naked-mole-sharks life, he simply yelled, “fine! Don’t help me solve the problem with operation lightning-ray. You’ll regret it when I succeed in taking over the world and have you scrubbing my toilet!” He then stormed off towards the bookcase.

Shego laughed, _like I’m ever going to let that happen._ To be fair, the man’s infuriation was warranted. Whether it had been jabbing him with his own pencil, gnashing his teeth at him or jumping out of a packet of onion rings, Ru-Ru had been terrorizing Drakken at every opportunity and Shego had been killing herself with laughter each and every time. However, what was even funnier was that she had actively seen the mad scientist start to peek around corners and glance behind him for fear of encountering the naked-mole-shark. _I wonder if Ru-Ru can drive him to a full-blown mental breakdown?_ Nevertheless, in less than a week, her new roommate had more than earned his keep for the next month.

She glanced over the top of her magazine at Drakken, who had started pulling books out of the bookcase. “Yo, Dr D,” she called out.

“What?” Drakken snapped as he turned around to look at her, conveniently at the point when Ru-Ru was running along the shelf above the one he was currently pulling books from.

“Why don’t you try feeding 1.21 Gigawatts of power into the flux capacitor?”

“1.21 Gigawatts!” Drakken exclaimed excitedly. “Shego, you’re a genius!”

She laughed internally as she watched him scurry back to the table and furiously start writing. _Seriously, Dr D, how long is it going to take for the penny to drop this time?_ After five solid minutes, the pencil scratching abruptly stopped.

“Wait a minute…” Drakken said to himself, “…the lightning-ray doesn’t use a flux capacitor and isn’t that,” the man’s eyes shot up from his calculations, “SHEGO!”

Through a howl of laughter, she struggled to say, “seriously, Dr D, it took you that long? I thought you were trying to build a lightning-ray, not send us back to the future.”

“That **wasn’t** funny, Shego,” Drakken growled as he stormed back to the bookcase.

 _It so was, but this is going to be even better._ She watched with a grin on her face as the mad scientist reached out a hand, pulled a book off of the shelf, only for him to come face to face with Ru-Ru, who promptly bellowed, “BAWH!!!”

“ARGH!!!” Drakken screeched as he leapt three feet into the air and threw the book he had withdrawn even higher. He landed back on the ground with a thud and had just enough time to turn and glare at her before the heavy tome entitled Shock Treatment: Electricity for the Eccentric, landed on his head.

Shego almost rolled off of the sofa in a fit of hysterics. _I am so never going to tire of this._ When she could eventually see straight once more, she wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and stood up.

“THAT’S IT!” Drakken bellowed. “BOTH OF YOU, OUT!”

With another laugh, she walked towards the door. “Way ahead of you, Dr D.” She then turned her emerald gaze to the naked-mole-shark. “Come on, Ru-Ru, Dr Grumpy-butt doesn’t want our company. Let’s head into Middleton and get some Bueno Nacho for lunch.”

“Mmmm, cheese! Yum-yum,” Ru-Ru said as he climbed down the shelves, scuttled across the floor and up into the pouch on her left leg.

She had just taken one step outside of the library when she heard Drakken grumble under his breath, “…Bueno Nacho… Wait, Shego! I want to come too!”

Shego laughed to herself as the mad scientist scurried out of the room behind her. ”Yeah well, you can steal your own food,” she said and set off towards the hanger, Drakken in toe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, everyone, let's sit down and have a nice little chat where I tell you all my plans... Lol, so now I sound like a Doctor Who villain. But seriously, folks, let's talk. 
> 
> While there was not a whole lot of character progression in this update, hence why I had initially intended it to be part of the previous one, the pieces are now in place for our mythical major event to occur. At the moment, I have written about 18K words of the next update and it is progressing well. However, I am unsure if I will manage to get it to where I want by this time next week. If I don't, I'll make a decision on whether I can split it up and give you half of it, or whether it will need to wait until I have finished writing the whole thing. If you don't see anything by Friday, assume I've had to go with the latter option. 
> 
> Thank you all once again for the continued support and I will hopefully see everyone next week for what is shaping up to be quite a substantial update.
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


	32. If you let me, I will catch fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good evening. Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen, and welcome to Ao3. The author is backstage and will be ready to go in just a few minutes. Before the update begins, he would like to make just a few announcements:
> 
> First, thank you to everyone who left him some of the bucketload of Kudos he received for the last update, it really means a lot to him; especially given the filler-like nature of the last chapter. He also wishes to extend a warm welcome to those of you who have just joined the party. The continued support he receives from his readership is both humbling and encourages him to keep on writing. 
> 
> Second, he has been promising something big for weeks now and so he hopes this second 30K+ word update has been worth the wait. This one really has taken a lot out of him. To the point that he very nearly hit writer's block last Thursday and had to spend two days playing Demon's Souls before he was able to come back to the laptop. 
> 
> For this update, the author has, in the spirit of his prog-rock obsession, picked a singular concept for his five chapter titles. For this first one, he has chosen the line, If you let me, I will catch fire, from the Paramore song, Part II; from their self-titled fourth album. He thought it a good fit for this chapters position as the starting point for the events that will follow. 
> 
> Well, I think the author's about ready to go now... no, no, not quite yet. One thing I would like to point out, upon conclusion of the update... *cue heavy music and the start of the update.* Enjoy.

It had been two weeks. Three-hundred-and-thirty-six hours. Twenty-thousand-one-hundred-and-sixty minutes… Kim had broken it down into seconds too and it came in at well over one million. The point was, she had been cooped up inside her parents’ house for two weeks. Except when she had been taken out for a walk. Yes, **taken** out for a walk. Once her infection had cleared up, her mom had decided that some fresh air would do her good and so invited her to come out on a walk with her. Naturally, after having been stuck indoors for five days straight, Kim had leapt at the chance. Of course, once outside and away from the house, she had bolted, only for the Tweebs Alcatraz2000 to send a crippling electric shock through her. Cheeks burning bright red at the indignity of it all, she had been forced to endure her mom chuckling at her and then acquiesce to the light suggestion that they walk together and then go back to the house. The woman had then proceeded to walk her every day like she was the new family pet. She might as well have put a collar and leash on her with a little tag that read, _‘Kimmie’_. Needless to say, this had only been akin to adding petrol atop the fires of anger that had been raging inside her since her defeat at the hands of Shego.

Shego. Every single day the green-skinned woman had filled Kim’s thoughts, the last fight between them playing out over and over again, until the point that she had started punching at her old bedroom wall in anger at the woman. Her dad had thus, against her mom's wishes, been forced to hang up an old punching bag he'd found in the garage, in order to safeguard the structural integrity of the room. Day after day her rage had intensified and the poor bag taken increasingly harsher poundings. But worse still had been the constant replay of the moments before her rival had set Matt’s jumper on fire. The lack of spark, of magic, had played constantly on her mind and brought about a reminder of the feelings of awkwardness… of wrongness, with regards to how it had all felt. She had blamed this on Shego too. This had all been the villainess’ doing. The raven-haired woman having latched onto Kim’s desire to fight her more frequently and then used that knowledge to mess with her head and to get her to question her sexuality. She was straight goddammit! Only there had persisted that little voice that constantly asked, _“but what if you’re not?”_

Her anger had quickly started to spill beyond the confines of her mind. She had yelled at her father when he had simply mentioned that one of his colleague’s daughters had been accepted into Harvard; having taken it as yet another attempt on his part to get her to quit her hero work and go to college like a normal ‘daddy’s girl’. She’d argued with her mother every time the woman had tried to check her over and point-blank refused to talk to her about anything, including the holes in her bedroom walls, that did not involve her getting to go home; which had been everything. And as for the Tweebs, virtually every time she had seen them, she had shouted at them for whatever they had been doing because it had irked her in some way. In the end, she had spent the bulk of her time holed up in her old bedroom, her mind tormented by memories of her humiliation at the hands of her rival and of repeated fights between Shego and the Barkin-dragon; each ending with the green-skinned woman’s battered and bloodied body getting shoved back into the chest. It may have meant everything or absolutely nothing, but Kim would swear that the Barkin-dragon’s box looked far more beat up with each subsequent encounter. All in all, she had never felt angrier or more vengeful in her life come Sunday night; two weeks after her defeat. Her mom, or should that be jailor, had finally, after having scrutinised every last pixel of her latest x-rays, said the words she had started to think would never come; she could go home tomorrow.

Kim had awoken at five-thirty am and fuelled by anger and a lust for vengeance, been raring to go. Still wearing the Alcatraz2000, she had been forced to work out indoors, but nevertheless put in a solid two-hours before anyone else had even woken up. Virtually barging past her father and both Tweebs, she had not so much claimed as forcibly taken first dibs on the shower. Now fully washed and dressed, Kim entered the kitchen and was surprised to see her mom already there; plating up breakfast for two.

“Morning, Kimmie,” her mother said, as though she was completely oblivious to her daughter’s mood and refusal to talk to her over the past two weeks.

“Morning,” Kim grunted irritably. While she wanted to leave the Possible house asap, her stomach told her that it would mutiny if she did so without eating the delicious pancakes with bacon and scrambled eggs her nose could smell. Hence, she went to take a seat at the table, instead of marching up to her mother and demanding she be released.

“Why don’t we go sit and eat in the living room?” her mom said, holding out a tray containing the aforementioned meal, plus a mug of coffee and a glass of fresh orange juice.

Kim knew it was not a question and grudgingly took the tray. _This can’t be good. If she wants to eat away from dad and the Tweebs it probably means she’s intending to sit and give me a lecture. I so don’t have the time for this shit, but until she takes this damn thing off my wrist, I don’t exactly have a choice._ She walked through to the living room, sat down and barely waited for her mom to do the same before attacking her food.

After a few minutes of silence, her mom finally said, “Kimmie, before you leave this morning, I think we need to talk.”

“Why?” Kim replied after swallowing a mouthful of pancake. “You got what you wanted. You’ve kept me here for two whole weeks and now I’m fully healed.”

“If you think this was all about keeping you hear, then you’ve missed the point entirely,” her mom replied as she sipped her coffee. “And while I’m satisfied that you’re physically fit, I’m concerned about your mental health. I find all this anger you’re carrying to be deeply concerning.”

“Geez, I wonder why I’ve been angry?” Kim asked sarcastically. “Maybe it’s because my own mother has kept me under lockdown for two whole weeks.” In an unintentional demonstration, her fork thunked heavily against her plate as she skewered a piece of bacon.

“Kimmie, I know fine well that your current state of mind is not just about you having to stay here for the last two weeks. Something else is clearly bothering you and I was hoping you would talk to me about it.”

She shot the woman a look that clearly said, _“not a chance,”_ before draining the contents of her orange juice.

However, her mom had never been one to give up easily. “Kimmie, please,” she said, her face threatening to break out into the infamous puppy-dog-pout, “you need to talk to someone and since you haven’t used the past two weeks to reconnect with your friends…”

“How the hell would you know what I’ve been doing while you’ve been at work?” she spat. However, her brain quickly came up with an answer that she did not like one bit. “Who have you been talking to behind my back this time? Monique? Wade?” At the thought of her tech guru, her mind immediately leapt to the worst-case scenario, “have you had Wade monitor who I’ve been calling while I’ve been here?”

Her mother sighed and perhaps offended by the accusation, replied flatly, “no, Kimberly Ann. I have neither spoken to Monique nor had Wade spy on you. I respect your right to privacy.”

“But not my right to make my own decisions!” she retorted hotly.

Her mom chose to ignore that remark and continued with her initial train of thought, “I know you don’t think so, but I know my daughter, Kimmie. When your mind starts to fixate on something, it’s all you think about. You obsess over it.” Kim’s jaw almost hit the floor when her mom then cut straight to crux of everything that had occupied every space inside her mind for the past two weeks, “I’d like you to tell me what’s happened between you and Shego to make you this angry.”

Before she could stop herself, the words, “how did you…” escaped from her mouth.

Her mom gave her a light smile, “like I said, I know my daughter. So, please, talk to me, Kim.”

Whether it was her anger at Shego boiling over again, a need to vent or a desire to put the subject to bed so she could leave, Kim did not know, regardless, she found herself yelling, “she saved me from Drakken’s death-ray and ruined my first kiss since Ron. Then, when we were fighting, she pulled a kick that should have broken the rest of my ribs, pinned me on the ground and then fucked off!” She clapped a hand over her mouth the instant she realised what she’d said. While she had missed out the worst parts of the story, she felt infuriated with herself for having let those particular details slip. _Damn my loose tongue! I bet she starts to psychoanalyse me now._

Her mom took her time and slowly sipped her coffee, before once again catching Kim off-guard, “are you sure that’s everything?”

While subtle, she could tell from her mom’s tone that the woman knew something, or at least thought she did. _Shit! What on earth does she think she knows? And how… Aww crap! I was whacked out on so much painkillers during my first few days here, that she could have heard me say anything. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! What the fuck do I do know?_ There was only one solution, an outright lie. “Yes,” Kim said firmly.

Her mom studied her intently over the rim of her coffee cup and Kim knew that the woman did not believe her. “Kimmie, the fact you are angry because Shego didn’t leave you writhing in agony… or worse, is bad enough. But if there is something else going on… something that is causing you to feel like this, please tell me. You know I won’t judge you.”

Aside from the fact, Kim found that last comment to be completely oxymoronic, given what her mom had said two seconds prior, she did not like the implications of it. _Fuck! Did I say something about trying to be Shego’s friend or about how she manipulated me into questioning my sexuality while I was all Lucy in the sky?_ Unfortunately, since her mom did not seem willing to show her hand, she had no way of probing for details without consolidating the woman’s suspicions. Which left her only one option, “there is nothing else going on. I’m pissed off because Shego ruined my night out and because you’ve been keeping me here for the past two weeks.” She sat her finished tray down on the coffee table. “Now, take this infernal thing off my wrist so I can leave.”

The expression on her mom’s face clearly said she was in two minds about whether or not to let her go. So, Kim shot her a dark glare to emphasise that she would not take no for an answer this time.

“Kim, what do you intend to do when you leave here?” her mom questioned cautiously.

“What do you think? I’m going to go home and go back to work.” It was not entirely a lie. Shego would no doubt be up to no-good somewhere and so by taking her down, she’d be putting a stop to something villainous. However, she did not care one iota about what that might be. This mission was entirely personal.

“Will that involve hunting down Shego because you want to take revenge on her?”

“No,” she lied, not caring whether or not her mom actually believed her.

“Kim, please think very carefully before you do something rash,” her mom warned, her expression one of concern and both it and her tone telling Kim that the woman had not believed her. “Vengeance can be a slippery slope and, in the end, you might find that it doesn’t satisfy or help you.”

 _Great, now she’s lecturing me like I’m on the cusp of becoming a villain or some other crap like that._ “I’ll be fine, Mom,” she said firmly, electing to simply ignore her mother’s bullshit. Kim then thrust out her right wrist. “Now, take this stupid thing off of me, so I get out of here.”

“Ok, Kimmie,” her mom sighed and she withdrew a small remote from her pocket. “But, please promise me you’ll be careful and don’t forget you promised that you would let me check you over the next time you’re home.” Her mother then pressed a button.

There was a beep from the Alcatraz2000 before it expanded and the hidden clasp popped open. It fell from Kim’s wrist and landed on the floor with a light clatter. She reached out with her left hand and rubbed the area which it had encircled. Her gaze then stared down at the Tweebs invention and she raised her foot, but before she could bring her it down on top of it, her mom scooped it up off the floor and she received a look that told her the woman intended to keep it in case she needed to use it again. _Yeah, like I’ll be letting that happen. And she can forget about me letting her check me over next time I’m home._ Kim felt absolutely no remorse over already making the decision to break that particular promise. Her mother had betrayed her trust the moment she locked the Alcatraz2000 on her wrist.

“I’ll be fine, Mom,” she said, a hard expression on her face. “Contrary to what people seem to think, I can take care of myself.” She then headed for the door that led to the hall. Upon reaching it, Kim turned her head, “I guess I’ll see you around.”

The sound of her mom getting up off the sofa reached her ears, before the woman said, “Kim, wait.”

Even though her brain was set on leaving, something stopped her in her tracks and she properly turned around, only to be enveloped in a hug. “…Mom…”

“I am sorry, Kimmie,” her mother said sincerely as she tightened her grip. “But I couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to you. And after the scare you gave me two weeks ago, I had to do something to get you to stop and allow yourself the chance to heal. I hope you understand and can forgive me.” The woman then released her from the hug.

“Sorry, Mom, but you crossed a line this time,” Kim spat, feeling her anger spike at the woman for again suggesting that she didn’t know how to look after herself. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got villains to take down.” With that, Kim turned and stormed out of the Possible house. However, she did not fail to notice the look of resigned acceptance on her mom’s face and beneath all her anger, a small part of her still understood that her mother had genuinely just been trying to help her.

##

“Steady, steady,” Dr Drakken ordered but with a dollop of control and caution normally foreign to him.

“Lower it down on my side,” Shego called out to the henchman in charge of the winch on her side. The man did as ordered. “Ok, we’re good, hold it steady,” she then added, her voice too holding an air of seriousness that normally was only reserved for non-work-related matters. “How is it on your end, Dr D?”

“Almost there, Shego,” Drakken replied. “Just keep it steady.”

This was a delicate operation and perhaps the most important one they had conducted thus far inside the recently constructed volcano lair; located inside Mount St Helens. If things went south here, everything would be for naught.

“How are we looking from the front, Ru-Ru?” she asked, risking a glance over at the naked-mole-shark.

Ru-Ru, kitted out in a miniature hard hat and hi-vis vest, held up his tiny paws and formed a box with his claws, much like that a photographer would use to line up a shot. “Uh-hu, uh-hu,” he said with a nod of his head, “level.”

“Ok, gently men, guide it backwards,” Drakken commanded. The crane lurched slightly, to which the mad scientist exclaimed, “I said gently!”

“Leave this to me, Dr D,” Shego said and raised her voice, “if any of you screw this up, Ru-Ru has permission to deal with you.”

She smiled when a collective gulp sounded from the henchmen and the crane immediately steadied. It had transpired that the naked-mole-shark was a natural at eliciting high standards of work and obedience from the hired help. Even Drakken had started to appreciate the particular skill-set he brought to the operation. So long as it was not being used upon him. However, at least once per day, Ru-Ru still leapt out at him from a new and inventive location each time, just to keep him on his toes.

“Ok, we’re flush on this side, Dr D.”

“Everything is in alignment on my side too. Lower it onto the bracket.”

Smoothly this time, the henchmen moved the crane and without so much of a peep, the two halves of the bracket slid together. When the cables supporting the weight became slack, the henchmen bustled forwards and quickly detached them. Simultaneously, Shego and Dr Drakken climbed down from the ladders upon which they had been perched and moved to stand beside Ru-Ru. The henchmen quickly cleared away the equipment.

“It’s a thing of beauty, isn’t it, Shego,” the mad scientist said with glee.

“For once I agree with you, Dr D.” A smile formed on her lips, “I call first dibs.”

“Most certainly not, Shego,” Drakken said in outrage.

They both darted towards the sofa, but naturally, she was faster. Making a grab for the remote, she suddenly felt a tug on her leg and fell face-first to the floor.

“Ha, ha, not this time, Shego,” the mad scientist said triumphantly as he leapt over her. “The Fearless Ferret it i…ARGH!”

She could only watch as the remote for the new one-hundred-and-fifty-inch TV flew out of his hand and into the air. The source of his scream quickly became apparent as Ru-Ru hopped onto Drakken’s head, via his backside, caught the remote and landed on the centre of the sofa.

“Ha, serves you right for cheating, Dr D,” Shego said as she stood up. “Kung-Fu Kombat it is. Thanks, Ru-Ru.”

However, the smile was quickly wiped from her face when the naked-mole-shark shook his head, “ut-uh, cheese.” He then turned the TV on.

Shego turned at the same time as Dr Drakken to stare at the screen and the program which Ru-Ru had put on; World of Cheese. “What!” they said in unison, both turning to glare at the naked-mole-shark, who had sat down on the centre of the sofa.

They received a smile showing off all of Ru-Ru’s razor-sharp shark teeth, as he said, “losers.”

In indignation, both Shego and Drakken sat on opposite sides of the sofa to watch the winner’s choice of program as they ate breakfast. The only consolation being that they had got the TV mounted and aligned perfectly.

##

Body running on a Molotov cocktail of anger and adrenaline, Kim sprinted up the stairs to the top floor of her apartment building and practically burst through her front door as she made a b-line straight for her workroom. If she’d paused for even a moment’s thought, she would have realised that she’d never been so glad to see the place in her life. Snatching her Kimmunicator from her desk, she hit the button that gave her a direct line to Wade, while crossing the room to her mission wardrobe.

“Morning, Kim,” the computer geek replied, slightly sheepishly as his face appeared on the screen, “it’s nice to see you finally got out.”

She glared at him, not forgetting what had happened when she had called him using her parents’ house phone during the first week of her incarceration. After discovering that the Tweebs could not free her from the Alcatraz2000 and that her Mom would not, she’d called her gear head in the hopes that he would be able to do something and she had been right. Wade could have hacked the Tweebs computer system (they were good, he was better) and deactivated the house security, allowing her to simply walk out of the front door. However, sounding like he was reading off a card, he had said, _“Kim, I am unable to assist you in leaving your parents’ home under pain of having the left- hemisphere of my brain removed and placed inside a monkey.”_ Completely infuriated that her mom had gotten to Wade, she’d then asked if he could at least make or find some sort of mad-science device that would heal her injuries, only to have him read from a second card saying, _“Kim, I am unable to assist you in fast-tracking your healing process under pain of having the right-hemisphere of my brain removed and placed inside a gorilla.”_

“No thanks to you,” Kim replied bitterly, wrenching open the doors to the wardrobe.

“Hey, I’m sorry, Kim, but your mom was insistent and I like both hemispheres of my brain where they are.”

“Save it, Wade. You owe me for siding with her and now you’re going to pay up,” she cut in, pulling out the red variant of her standard mission gear, the colour scheme fitting her mood.

The gear head opened his mouth to argue, probably about how anything she wanted would cost her, but quickly stopped in his tracks when she shot him a death glare. “Sure thing, Kim,” he then said as a sweat drop ran down the side of his face, “what do you need?”

“Shego,” she spat, “where is she?” Kicking off her trainers, she sat the Kimmunicator down on the dresser; facing away from her and then slipped off her jeans. 

“I don’t know,” the boy replied, “there have been no confirmed sightings of either her or Drakken since they took over that communications centre.”

She roughly shoved her legs inside the black pants with a red stripe running down each leg. “I don’t care about Drakken, just give me whatever rumoured sightings there might have been of Shego and I’ll work from there.”

“Ok…” Wade said nervously, clearly sensing that something was up. He furiously tapped at his keyboard for a few moments as she switched t-shirts. “Hmmm, there’s not much to go on… are you sure you should be purposefully seeking her out, I mean she did just…”

“I know what she did, Wade,” Kim growled and had to resist the urge to hit something, “I was there and spent two weeks stuck at my mom’s because of her. Just get me some intel.” She sat down to pull on her boots.

“Ok, the best I’ve got is that there has been a string of tech robberies over the past week and a half. You could start by checking those out. I’ll send you the list.”

“Certainly sounds like it could be her handiwork. Drakken’s been priced out of the market when it comes to paying sticker price for components for a while now. I suppose it’ll have to do,” she replied, her manners having been thrown out the proverbial window by her anger. “Keep an eye out and let me know as soon as you hear of any other tech-related robberies or sightings of Shego.”

“Ok, but that’s going to…”Kim picked up the Kimmunicator and glared at the screen as she strapped it to her wrist; the Alcatraz2000 having taken its place for far too long. Succeeding in convincing Wade to hastily say, “…be given to you on the house.”

“Glad we understand each other.”

The Kimmunicator screen went black and Kim pulled on her belt. Going to her armoury, she slotted her standard assortment of gadgets (grapple, laser lipstick, corrosive concealer and paralysing perfume) into her belt and put on a pair of aviator sunglasses, which contained several different scanners and also, when combined with the leather jacket she slipped on, gave her an ‘I’m going to kick your ass’ look. Tossing her normal clothes into an overnight bag, she picked both it and her other bag of mission equipment up. She then headed to the back of the wardrobe.

“Kim Possible. 90125. Bonnie’s a bitch. Pandaroo,” she said clearly and a panel in the back of the wall opened to reveal her battle suit. Wasting no time, she placed it inside a specially designed travel box, made from Wade engineered titanium and requiring her thumbprint and retinal scan to open. While she would not likely need it today, she wanted it on hand inside the Sloth, should she uncover a solid lead on Shego. _That bitch is going down._

Bags all packed, she left her apartment, locked it tight and rode the elevator down to the parking garage. Reaching the Sloth, she stored all three into the trunk (her battle suit box having its own special compartment) then climbed into the driver’s seat. Starting the ignition, she synched the car’s onboard computer with the Kimmunicator and brought up a map of the US, with the sites of all the recent tech thefts marked on it. There had been one last Tuesday at M.I.S.T and so that was where she would be starting. She backed the Sloth out of the parking bay and like a bat out of hell, zoomed out of the garage. _I hope you’re ready, Shego, because here I come._

##

An hour after having lost the right to choose the TV program they watched over breakfast to Ru-Ru, Shego had left the new volcano lair in the hovercraft to set about her daily tech robberies. After Drakken had finally ironed out the kinks in his lightning-ray, she had spent the past week and a half stealing things from labs and research facilities all over the country and still had over thirty percent of the revised list left to swipe. Unfortunately, this was one of the mad scientist's plans where they had been unable to go out and steal a readymade version of the device, as no one else had ever been mad enough to build one.

Over the course of the past two weeks, she’d wrestled with herself over what to do about the Kimmie issue and still not reached a conclusive answer. The only thing she had decided on was not to purposefully make any ‘noise’ while out and about. The longer the hero had to stew, the angrier she would become and thus the more likely to be susceptible to… whatever catalyst would bring about the serious gay moment that would send her hurtling into stage three; fear.

 _It can’t be me,_ Shego thought as she guided the hovercraft over an expanse of woodland and towards a large solitary building dead ahead; the location of a prototype time-dilation-accelerator. _I can’t be the catalyst that send’s Kimmie into fear._

 _“If not you, then who or what?”_ Miss Go asked.

After their heart to heart two weeks prior, she had talked and debated more openly, with the woman. There being less cursing, swearing and bursts of plasma from her and less smugness, chastisement and pitfall traps from Miss Go. In fact, the relationship had become almost amicable. _I don’t know. She’s at the mercy of the universe on that one. I’ve done enough to help her._

_“No, you pushed her off a ledge, but only onto the one below. She still has three jumps to make before she hits the ground. And she still needs help.”_

They had been over this more times than Shego could count over the past two weeks. And despite her continual refusal to budge on the matter, Miss go kept bringing it up. And she had a bad idea why she had not yet flown off the handle at the woman for doing so. Nevertheless, t _hen she can get it from elsewhere._

_“And where else do you think she’s going to get that from? You said it yourself two weeks ago. Kim lives in a conservative community where her family, friends, school and society have told her she should be straight. She has no one with whom she can talk about this sort of thing and she is not likely going to come across the sort of catalyst she needs in the wild, much less go seek one out.”_

_That’s not my fault,_ Shego protested. She knew what Miss Go said was true, but could not bring herself to accept the woman’s follow up point.

Speaking of which… _“no, it’s not. And if you were genuinely not interested in having any sort of relationship with her, you’d be doing this purely for her benefit, something which you’ve already shown yourself willing to do. Case and point; the incident in Heartbeats.”_

Ok, so that point she could not refute. In fact, her own justification for setting the boy who Kimmie had been snogging’s shirt on fire, was that not even her rival deserved to go through the long drawn out hell that she herself had suffered all those years ago when dealing with the same issues. She sighed as she flipped on the hovercrafts cloaking device.

_“However, if you were interested in Kim, that would certainly account for your hesitation to get more involved than you already are. For we both know that liking Kim Possible falls well beyond the limits of being Shego.”_

_Can’t we do this later? If you hadn’t noticed, I’m about to break into a heavily guarded laboratory,_ Shego replied as she stopped the hovercraft above the roof of the building.

 _“Of course. However, I will point out that you were the one that brought the subject up this time,”_ Miss Go said, her voice containing just a smidgen of smugness.

Shego cursed internally as she stood up from the controls and crept to the edge. She glanced below, waited for the count of five and dropped down atop the solitary unsuspecting guard’s head. He was out cold before he even hit the deck. Wasting no time, she lightly ran over to the main ventilation duct. _Will building designers never learn,_ she thought in amusement as she enveloped her hands in green plasma, slashed through the grating and climbed inside.

##

M.I.S.T had been a complete and utter bust. Kim had arrived and actually had to assure the dean that she had no desire to charge them before he had been willing to let her examine the crime scene. It hadn’t taken long. A quick scan of the area with her sunglasses had revealed a faint pair of scents that had belonged to a ridiculously expensive cologne and an even more expensive perfume. She hadn’t needed to send the samples off to Wade and get him run them against a list of recent clientele, to know that the perpetrators had been Señor Senior, Junior and his wife to be, Bonnie Rockwaller. Normally, the discovery that one of the big names from her rogues' gallery was up to no good and for the first time that she had been aware, brought his fiancé along for the ride, would have been enough for her to drop what she was doing and give chase, but she had bigger fish to fry than the Señors… much bigger.

Kim had left M.I.S.T, gone back to the Sloth and headed for the next location on her list; a lab in Upperton. That too had been fruitless. A quick investigation had revealed that one of the co-developers had staged the break-in and stolen the device himself, in order to cheat his colleagues out of their share of the credit. The others had happily paid her fee and she’d left the culprit to be arrested by the police when they arrived and set off once more. It was while en-route to stop number three; the Lowerton science expo, that she got the call.

“Sitch me, Wade,” Kim said quickly as she answered the Kimmunicator call via the Sloth’s computer system.

“I’ve got a tip you might be interested in,” the tech guru replied as he sipped his soda.

“I’m all ears.”

“A silent alarm’s just been tripped at a research facility fifty miles west of your current position. Sending you the coordinates now.”

The sound of Wade typing filled her ears for a few seconds before the map appeared on the screen. As soon as she processed the fact that she needed to turn around, she shoved the Sloth into a skid with the handbrake and wasted no time in hitting the gas pedal, leaving a large donut and eleven mark in her wake. “I’m on it. Send a message to the facility and let them know I’m coming and to not engage the suspect.”

“Will do,” Wade replied, before adding, “and, Kim, if it is Shego, be careful.”

“There’s only going to be one of us going back to our mother in a cardboard box this time and it isn’t going to be me,” Kim spat, not caring one iota for his concern. _I can take care of myself!_

“Geez, Kim, ok. Just let me know if you need anything.”

The screen abruptly went blank.

Her anger now bubbling on the surface again, Kim sped out of Upperton at breakneck speed and headed for the highway. The moment she turned onto it and had clear asphalt in front of her, she was able to fully open up the Sloth and had hit over two-hundred mph in mere seconds. She’d make it to the research facility within twenty minutes and hopefully in enough time to catch Shego red-handed. _Then I’m taking you down, Bitch._ Weaving effortlessly between the snail-paced traffic, she left a trail of horn blasts behind her as her heavily Tweeb modified car rocketed forwards like a purple missile. While she would never openly admit it to them, in hindsight, being their ride monkey for a few days had totally been worth what she’d gotten in return.

Fifteen minutes later, Kim turned off of the highway and began making her way up a windy forest road to the out of the way lab. She’d been forced to slow down to a mere eighty mph and so she arrived at the metal fencing that surrounded the large building slightly past her ambitious twenty-minute estimate. The gate guard waved her inside and she brought the Sloth to a stop outside the main entrance and climbed out.

A man wandered over to meet her. “Thank you for coming so quickly, Miss Possible. But I’m afraid it may have been a wasted journey.”

“What!” Kim exclaimed in infuriation, “has Shego already escaped?”

“No, no,” the man replied hastily, now sounding worried about annoying her, “but, to be honest, we’re not entirely sure that there has been a break-in.”

She glowered at him, “you had better explain and quickly. I was told a silent alarm had been tripped.”

“It was, it was. But our security team did a sweep of the complex and found no one and no sign of a break-in.”

“That just means they didn’t do a good enough job.” _Like some two-bit rent-a-cops could catch Shego._ “Do you have a vault where you store your research projects?” she asked, as she set off towards the entrance.

“Yes, of course,” the man said as he hurried to catch up to her. “I’ll take you there straight away. Do you think that someone is here to steal one of our projects?”

“Well, they didn’t come here to kidnap the scientists,” _at least not if you’re any measure of their intelligence._ Kim quickly brought up a map of the complex on her Kimmunicator. “I’ll be faster if I go myself,” she replied and she broke out into a run.

“But you’ll need me to get past the security doors,” the man called out after her.

“No, I won’t,” and if to demonstrate her point, she quickly used the Kimmunicator to hack the front door and stepped through it.

Bringing up the map again, Kim sprinted through the complex towards what she could easily tell was the vault. Without breaking stride, she expertly hacked each door before she’d even arrived at it. Soon she found herself outside a stereotypically large and obscene safe door. Even through the thick steel, she could hear a loud rumbling coming from inside. _So, you’re still here, perfect._ It took her a little longer to hack the vault door, but soon the heavy clunking of the locks sounded and it swung open to reveal…

##

Shego silently slid the grating of the ventilation duct aside, peered down into the vault below and dropped one of her little gas canisters into it. _Jackpot._ Using her electromagnetic belt grapple, she slid down into the dimly lit room and stopped mid-air above the laser grid that the thin mist had quickly revealed. Plucking a single hair from her head, she allowed it to fall and watched as it was disintegrated by the green beams. _So, it’s the slice you to bits, ask questions never type. No problem._ Her eyes glanced around and found the control panel beside the large round door. In days gone by, she would have needed to figure out a complicated way of either getting through the laser beams to either it or to the glass-fronted pedestal that housed the time-dilation-accelerator. However, with a large number of jobs still to do, time was not something she could afford to waste and so if there was a way to cheat, she would take full advantage of it.

“Ru-Ru,” she hissed towards the utility pouch on her left leg.

The naked-mole-shark poked his head out.

“Think you can drop down, crawl under those lasers to that control panel and switch them off?”

Ru-Ru looked around and then gave her a cheeky grin. “Cheese,” he said, which meant, _“of course, but it is going to cost you your weight in cheese.”_

Shego rolled her eyes, “fine, you can have cheese when we get back to the lair. Now, get going.”

She watched as the naked-mole-shark hopped down, scampered under the lasers and up the wall to the control panel and somehow found a way to get inside it. _Now I know how Kimmie and the Buffoon managed to infiltrate so many of Dr D’s hideouts and escape his death traps so quickly._ Granted, this was not the first time Ru-Ru had saved her a lot of time over the past two weeks. He really was earning his keep and his cheese. Moments later, the laser grid went offline and by the time she’d lowered herself to the ground, the naked-mole-shark had reappeared. Shego had just been about to head to claim her prize when the sound of the vault door opening reached her ears; causing her to freeze misstep. Turning her head, she gazed upon the sight off…

##

“Motor Ed!” Kim exclaimed as her eyes widened at the sight of the denim-clad, mullet sporting, engine obsessed villain.

“Awww, Red, seriously? So not cool,” Ed replied in irritation. “Seriously, Dude, you don’t just show up to rumble a man’s heist. That’s like so not ok. I’m serious.”

She felt her fists clench upon hearing the nick-name Ed always chose to call her. “What the hell are you doing here? Where’s Shego!”

“That babe? Urgh, I like seriously ditched her years ago. That accessory talked way too much,” Ed boomed. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a quantum-valve-modulator to steal. It’s so totally going to balance out the engine on my sick new ride.”

Kim stood and surveyed the scene for a moment, incensed that she had not found Shego to be the perpetrator of this particular break-in. Beside Motor Ed was a large yellow machine with caterpillar tracks and a massive drill on the front. A massive hole in the vault floor told her that he had used it to burrow his way inside. _The vibrations coming from that thing must have tripped one of the facility’s silent alarms. Explains why the security personnel couldn’t find anyone or any sign of a break-in when they searched the place._ She fixed the motor junkie with a stern glare. He might not have been Shego, but he would serve as a good warm-up.

Not even giving Ed the opportunity to surrender, she whipped out her grapple, shot it skywards at an array of pipes and flew through the air towards him. With a two-footed kick, she sent the villain flying, just as he had been about to swipe the quantum-valve-modulator. “Sorry, Ed, but the only thing you’re getting today is an orange jumpsuit,” she said when he crashed against the vault wall.

Motor Ed hit the ground and she advanced on him while he was still trying to pick himself up. “Seriously, Red, you don’t just drop kick someone when their back is turned. Not cool. Now you’re going to get it.”

“Bring it, mullet head,” Kim declared, as she leapt at him.

Ed took a few wild swings at her with his ham-sized fists but she effortlessly dodged them. She’d learned from her mistakes in previous fights with him that, while he lacked technique, the man packed a serious punch if he landed a blow. This called for evasion, she ducked under a haymaker, speed, in a flash she slid behind him and precision, she caught the back of one knee with a powerful low-side-kick, which caused it to buckle. Motor Ed yelled in pain and she suspected she had at least popped the joint out, if not shattered it. However, she was not done. A second side-kick, this time aimed squarely at the man’s kidneys, caused his back to arch, as she effortlessly transitioned into a reverse-turning kick, which caught him in the temple and sent him crashing sideways to the floor.

Anger flowing freely through her veins, Kim sauntered over to him as he struggled to get up. This feeling inside her… this desire to inflict pain upon him was foreign to her… almost. She’d felt like this once before; the night of her junior prom. Her rage had twisted her that night, transformed her into someone dark… someone who had felt the desire to actually kill Shego. And she could not deny that, in part, she had enjoyed how powerful she had felt that night. Afterwards, she had sworn she would never go there again, never allow herself to become that person. Yet here she was, her anger at her rival, at what Shego had done to her, having driven her back to this place. _I’m going to make that bitch pay for messing with my head!_

She watched as the man in front of her struggled to rise. Motor Ed was not the green-skinned woman, but certainly someone upon whom she could vent some of her wrath. An appetiser perhaps being the best metaphor. And like someone had popped a circuit breaker inside her head, Kim snapped and gave in to her darker impulses. As the motor junkie raised his head, she slammed her knee into his face; breaking his nose. His body fell backwards and she quickly fired off two punches at his jaw and followed up with a vicious front-snap-kick to his chest. Ed let out a scream as he soared through the air and crashed into the wall once more. She’d probably just broken several of his ribs with that kick. Her blazing olive-green eyes watched as Ed raised his head a few centimetres before it fell back to the floor. _Pitiful_ , Kim thought as she advanced, _he’s not even able to give me a proper fight._ When she reached him, she grabbed Ed by the back of his blue t-shirt and tossed him like a sack of potatoes towards the vault door. He did not make a sound when he hit the ground again; the stacked effect of her vicious blows clearly having been enough to KO him. When she reached him this time, she grabbed a fistful of his blonde mullet and dragged his unconscious carcase through the facility, receiving gasps from several onlookers that she passed. When she finally made it outside, she deposited Motor Ed at the feet of the man whom she had briefly spoken with on the way in.

“There’s your thief,” Kim said as she dusted her hands off. “You’ll find a massive hole in your vault floor alongside a burrowing machine that was used to gain access.”

“Oh, my word,” the man stammered, his eyes fixated upon the large figure of Motor Ed and she knew he was trying to fathom how such a lithe woman had managed to render such a bulking brute unconscious and then drag him from the vault to here. “Thank you.”

She did not even bother to look at the man as she pulled her sunglasses out of her pocket and popped them on. “Call the police and have him carted off to jail,” she said and started walking towards the Sloth. “I’ll be forwarding you the bill for my services.”

“But… but…”

Kim shot the bumbling man a glare that dared him to finish his sentence. _I just busted someone trying to steal some of your precious tech, so you are totally paying me for my services._

“Ye… yes, of course,” he then sensibly said.

Without another word, she opened the door to the Sloth and climbed in. Wasting no time, she turned the ignition and zoomed off. _Well, that was a complete and utter bust. Guess it’s down to Lowerton to check out the science convention._ She felt her anger burn deep at having wasted the better part of an hour and a half (once she factored in the extra driving time). Worse yet, it was now mid-afternoon and she’d not eaten since breakfast. As if to emphasise this, her stomach rumbled; loudly. _I suppose I’d better stop off for lunch before I hit the science convention. I could so go a chimirito right about now._ Course set, she sped off to continue her search; via a stop at the Lowerton Bueno Nacho.

##

“Wh… wh… what on earth?” the bewildered scientist bumbled as she caught sight of Shego standing in the middle of the vault.

_Shit, busted._

However, before she could do anything, Ru-Ru scampered over to the woman standing in the vault entrance and sank his razor-sharp shark teeth into her leg.

The scientist screamed, “AHHH!”

Springing into the air Shego landed in front of the woman and quickly touched her forehead with a lit claw. She watched as the scientist’s eyes glassed over and her body crumpled to the floor. Poking her head outside of the vault, it seemed that no one else had been around to hear the commotion. However, she was taking no chances. “Ru-Ru, let’s go,” she said and waited just long enough for the naked-mole-shark to climb into the pouch on her leg before she darted over to the pedestal, cut through the glass with a lit claw and snagged the time-dilation accelerator. Returning to the centre of the room, she tossed the electromagnetic clamp up towards the ventilation duct and quickly ascended. Carefully, she slipped the grating back into place and began to crawl her way through an intricate series of tunnels that led back up to the roof.

By the time she exited out into the warm afternoon sun, she could hear the alarm begin to ring throughout the complex. _Damn, guess someone went to check on why that scientist hadn’t returned. Oh, well, it’s not like I have to escape through a bunch of guards or anything. However, if that woman remembers anything when she wakes up, it’ll certainly give Kimmie something to look into. Guess I should probably be prepared for her showing up sooner rather than later._ Leaping upwards, Shego landed on the front of the cloaked hovercraft and seated herself down at the controls. Selecting her next target in the navigation system, via a stop for lunch, she reclined back in her chair and let the autopilot do its thing.

It was at that point that Ru-Ru appeared from her leg pouch. He perched himself on her knee and looked up at her expectantly. “Et-hm,” he said and held out his paw.

“Hey, I said you could have cheese when we got back to the lair,” Shego replied, knowing full well what the little blighter was after.

The naked-mole-shark then acted out a rather humorous recitation of the scientist discovering her and him distracting her with a chomp to her leg. When he had finished, his beady black eyes met with her own and he held out his paw again.

“Hey, I didn’t promise you squat for doing that,” she protested. “You did that off your own back.”

Ru-Ru looked at her pointedly and reiterated his demand by thrusting his paw out at her, “payment.”

Shego rolled her eyes. She had no reason to cave to the naked-mole-shark’s request, for if he tried to bite her, he would end up burning his mouth. However, she’d found herself engaging in these petty altercations purely for the fun of it. _Damn, I really do enjoy having the little sod around._ It was not a new thought; she’d had it several times over the two weeks since he had snuck his way into her life, but it kept repeating itself. Perhaps it was her minds way of reaffirming that good things, as well as bad, could happen if she strayed out with the confines of being Shego. She reached into one of the storage compartments and pulled out a packet of onion rings. “Ok, you can have these now, but if I buy you lunch and you don’t finish it, you get no cheese when we get back to the lair, deal?”

Ru-Ru nodded emphatically, took the bag of onion rings from her and wasted no time in ripping it open and starting to stuff his face.

_Urgh, I’m treating him like a child… albeit a child with razor-sharp shark teeth and a vicious streak about him. I might as well just put on the stupid teal headband now and start calling myself…_

Before she had even finished the thought, Miss Go materialised inside her head, _“you called?”_

_No, I was simply…_

_“About to suggest that you become me. Yeah, I know. Granted, it’s not the worst idea you’ve ever had,”_ Miss Go said with a sweet smile.

 _Your wardrobe choices suck,_ Shego replied playfully.

_“I don’t think it would go down well if you wandered into a classroom dressed in your current attire. The kids might think you’re there to teach them something… kinky.”_

Shego laughed at that notion. _Well, it would certainly **whip** them into shape. Stevie-boy is all about discipline, I’m sure he’d appreciate that slant on teaching. _

It still came as a surprise when Miss Go laughed with her. She was definitely not used to having such amicable conversations with that part of her brain. _“Knowing your luck, he’d probably want you to teach him a lesson or two.”_

She shuddered at the thought, remembering full well how she had ended up going on a date with Steven Barkin while she was Miss Go. N _ow that is taking things too far. That stupid date was by far the worst thing you did while you were in control._

_“Worse than being friends with Kim?”_

_Much worse. Earth to Miss Go, you are part of me and I’m definitely in the lesbian camp. And there was absolutely nothing to be gained from it, no manipulation at play. It was just wrong._

_“Yeah, probably not my best moment,”_ Miss Go admitted. _“I guess I felt sorry for the man as he didn’t seem like the type who gets out much and then let Kim pressure me into it. Anyway, why are we running over that old ground? We should be talking about Kim and what you are going to do about her.”_

 _Must we?_ Shego groaned, _we went over this before I stole the time-dilation-accelerator._

_“No, we started going over this, however, you managed to worm your way out of the full discussion because you had to get to work.”_

She rolled her eyes, _here we go again. And I was hoping to have a relaxing flight followed by a quiet lunch. Fine, let’s get on with it…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so, quite the explosive first chapter. Yeah, yeah, I know I'm late. However, we have a fair bit more to get through before we're done this time, so let's head on over to chapter 2 of 5.


	33. Let the flames begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, chapter 2 of 5. I won't keep you long, except to say that the chapter title this time is the name of another Paramore song, Let the flames begin, from their Riot! album. If you remember way back to chapter 4, I used the lyric, This is how we dance, from this song for that chapter title. In fact, the whole idea of using the term dance as a metaphor for Kim and Shego beating the crap out of one another came from this song. As you may have guessed already, the concept for the chapter titles in this update is fire. So, let's let the flames begin...

“AHHHH!”

The scream echoed out around the hotel lobby and stunned those who had stayed to watch the fireworks. The large Hispanic man was hauled through the air via the cable that had wrapped itself around his legs, however, the far more impressive sight was the red-haired woman who flew towards him, leg outstretched. Kim caught Señor Senior, Junior square in the chest with the flying-side-kick and a somewhat cruel smirk formed on her face when she heard the sickening crunch of his ribs breaking. It was perhaps a dark irony that she had now broken the ribs of two big names from her rogues' gallery in the one week; given that Shego had broken hers three weeks ago today.

It was now three weeks. Three stinking weeks since her epic hour-long dual with Shego, that had led to their disastrous night at Spritzers and Kim’s eventual humiliation at her hands, followed by her incarceration within the Possible house. And since then, she’d not seen green-skinned hide nor a singular raven-hair of her rival. She’d investigated over a dozen tech thefts since Monday, three that she had been able to pin on Shego, but each time she’d come to a dead-end when it came to actually catching the bitch. Her latest search had led her here, to the lobby of the Imperial Hotel and again to Señor Senior, Junior…

“Junior, My Love!”… and apparently his wife to be, Bonnie Rockwaller.

Kim watched as her old schoolyard nemesis ran to the side of her fiancé, where he lay crumpled on the floor. Slowly she closed in to tower over the pair. Even if her eyes could have been seen from behind her aviator sunglasses, they would show no pity. “Looks like you’ll be saying your wedding vows in a jail cell, Bonnie,” Kim said with a smirk. It had been an ambition of hers back in Middleton High, to toss the girl into the back of a police van and while it was coming two years late, it would still be somewhat satisfying.

“Kim, you total bitch!” Bonnie yelled.

She could see the girl’s hands begin to shake, the maddening rage fill her eyes and she knew what was about to come.

Sure enough, “ARAHHH!” In wild furry, Bonnie rose to her feet and lashed out at Kim with a vicious open hand.

Effortlessly, Kim blocked the blow with one hand and scooped it across Bonnie’s chest with the other, while catching hold of the girl’s wrist. She then slammed the elbow of the first into her upper arm. Bonnie let out a painful cry and fell to her knees as Kim increased the pressure on the arm-bar. _You’re just lucky I chose not to break your arm._

“Give up, Bitch,” she said airily, “once again, you’re completely outmatched.” When the girl did not immediately respond, she kicked the pressure up another notch, eliciting another scream.

“You can’t do this, Kim,” Bonnie cried out. “This is brutality!”

The girl writhed in agony as Kim once more increased the force with her elbow. “No, Bonnie,” she said slowly, her voice still sounding like they were talking about some schoolyard gossip, “brutality would be me breaking your face. Now, you’ve got an appointment to be measured for your wedding jumpsuit and I’d hate for you to miss it. So, either you give up, or I snap your arm in at least two places.”

“Ok, ok, I give up,” Bonnie cried, tears now streaming down her face.

She released her grip and patted the bitch on the head, like she would a dog, “good girl.” Bonnie then yelped as Kim grabbed a handful of her brown hair. “Come on, Junior, you’re coming too,” she said and grabbed the Hispanic man by his own hair.

Kim received no reply from the unconscious lump that was Señor Senior, Junior as she dragged both him and Bonnie out of the hotel lobby; in full view of a crowd of stunned onlookers. Outside, the sun was splitting the pavement and a police van had already pulled up outside the hotel entrance. To her left, she could see a sole camerawoman furiously taking snaps of her dragging the happy couple towards their wedding carriage. A reporter stood beside her, positively bursting at the seems to get past the police and shove his mic in her face. She ignored them both as she made her way to the back of the van. Readjusting her grip, she tossed Junior inside and then turned to Bonnie.

“Orange has never really been my colour; it clashes too much with my hair, but I think it’s going to suit you just fine,” Kim said and grabbed the girl by the back of her t-shirt and shoved her inside.

“I’ll get you for this, Kim Possible!” Bonnie yelled; her face twisted with rage.

“Not likely. Face facts, Bonnie, I’ve always been better than you,” she replied coolly. “Now, tell the warden that Kim Possible has requested you be put in a cell by yourself, as I’ll be sending you a new bestie soon.” _Because I can’t think of a worse fate for Shego than being locked in a jail cell with Bonnie. After I’ve beaten the shit out of her, of course._

“At least I can make friends and have a life, Kim. I heard Stoppable broke up with you because of how frigid you are.”

On hearing mention of the insult Ron had fired at her almost a month ago, Kim’s fists involuntarily clenched. Thoughts about how she couldn’t properly be intimate with the boy, of the awkwardness she had felt and how her scant orgasms with him always sucked, had gone through her head this week on some of the countless occasions when the question of her sexuality had been dragged up. A scowl formed on her face and her enjoyment of sending her old schoolyard nemesis to jail had just been completely soured.

A smirk formed on Bonnie’s face as she said with glee, “it’s so totally true! You can’t open up for a guy, can you, Possible?”

Kim’s cheeks started to burn on hearing the words. She had no idea what arms and legs had been added to the story regarding her fight with Ron in the nightclub several weeks ago and she had not cared. However, she didn’t need to hear Bonnie yell, “I should have known you were a member of the lezzie club, Kim!” to know what sort of embellishments the girl had heard.

In a heartbeat, Kim’s anger burst to the surface once more and it was only by virtue of the police choosing that moment to close the van doors, that she was prevented from leaping inside and pulverizing the bitch. Absolutely incensed but now unable to vent, she stormed away. When she passed the line of police officers, she heard the sound of hurried footsteps and the snapping of a camera taking photos.

“Kim, James from...” was all the reporter managed to say before, without breaking stride, she shoved her arm out in his direction and gave him the finger. “Jessie, please tell me you got a shot of that,” the man then said excitedly.

 _Great, guess I know what’s going to be on the front page of his piece of gutter trash tomorrow._ She’d already had to put up with several articles on Tuesday about Motor Ed and how she had supposedly been ‘overzealous’ in taking him down; put lightly and then more yesterday after she’d sent one of the new-guard of villains, Mr Phaze, off to jail with a shattered femur. 

Unfortunately, James, the reporter, did not take the hint. “Kim, what was it like to send an old school friend to jail?”

She blanked the man and kept walking. All the while the photographer kept taking pictures.

“Kim, what can you tell us about this new ‘ass-kicking’ look you’ve been sporting this week?”

A moment later, after some very hurried footsteps, the reporter and his camerawoman had appeared in front of her. The man held his mic towards her and then asked, “Kim, dose your new look have anything to do with the high level of brutality you’ve displayed this week?”

Her frayed temper caused her to shoot the pair a death glare, which went mostly unseen because of her sunglasses and she yelled, “fuck off!” straight at their faces. She turned sharply and skirted around them; the Sloth now only a hundred or so yards away. _I fucking hate these vultures!_

“Jessie, this is an absolute goldmine!” she heard James say with glee from behind her and she knew the pair were not going to give up. “I have to get to the bottom of the issues that are eating at her.”

Kim quickened her pace as she reached into her pocket and clicked the button to open the doors to the car. _I just need to get into the Sloth and I can leave them in a cloud of dust._ Scurried footsteps followed her and before she knew it, James was back in front of her.

The man shoved his microphone right into her face as he said, “Kim, is it true you are really a lesbian?”

Maybe it had been the continual badgering from the man, the fact he’d just virtually shoved his mic down her throat, the question itself or a combination of the above. Regardless, Kim felt her anger erupt inside her and she snapped. In a flash, she balled her fist and punched the man square in the face. There was a horrible crunch as his nose broke and blood poured forth. From beside them, she could hear the constant clicking of the camera and she knew that Jessie had just got several snaps of it. This served only to enrage her further. Turning, to face the woman, she yanked the camera from her grasp and ignored her protests as she slammed it into the ground and crushed it under her boot. From amidst the shards of broken plastic, she spotted the blue memory card and bent down to scoop it up.

“Hey, that’s…” Jessie began but was quickly cut off.

“Leave me the hell alone,” Kim barked at the pair and stormed off.

Wrenching open the driver’s side door of the Sloth, she climbed inside, tossed the memory card into one of the cupholders and quickly sparked the engine into life. With a roar like that of a mountain lion, she hit the gas peddle and the car shot away from the curb. _Fucking bastard deserved that,_ Kim spat internally, feeling a slight need to justify to herself what she had just done. _In fact, I should have beat the shit out of him for getting in my face like that._

‘Beep, beep, _beep,_ beep.’ The distinctive tone of her Kimmunicator sounded from her wrist and Wade’s face then appeared on the Sloth’s viewscreen.

“What!” Kim barked, anger still coursing through her veins.

The gearhead visibly slid away from the camera before saying, “geez, Kim, no need to bite my head off.”

“What do you want, Wade?” she snapped, still unable to reign in her rage.

“Thought you’d like to know, I’ve had satellites scouring the country all day for you and one of them just picked up this,” a fuzzy image appeared on the screen of what appeared to be a top-down view of a hovercraft and at the controls, what looked like a mass of black hair.

“SHEGO!” Kim yelled her fists tightening around the steering wheel, “where the hell is she?”

“When this was taken, she was travelling across Texas. I think she’s headed for…” Wade punched a few keys, “…Nevada.”

“Area 51?” Kim asked immediately.

“Sorry, Kim, you’ll have to wait to see them aliens some other time. No, I think her target is more likely a privately owned research facility just outside Carson City.”

“How’d you figure that? There’s a lot of real estate between Texas and Nevada **if** that’s even where she’s headed.” She was not normally one to question the tech guru’s wisdom, however, in her current mood, she didn’t want thoughts, theories or guesswork, she wanted fact.

“The scientists there have developed a control circuit that would come in pretty handy for someone who recently acquired a time-dilation-accelerator and wants to use it without the thing overloading.”

Wade’s logic sounded solid enough. “What’s my ETA?” she asked, power sliding the Sloth around a corner.

“From San Francisco, California to Carson City, Nevada you're looking at about two-hundred-and-fifteen miles. In the Sloth, that should take you just under two hours, assuming you can average 130mph,” Wade replied; needing neither calculator not map to do the calculation.

“What about Shego?” Kim asked, determined to average more than 150mph.

“She’s got a lot further to go, but that hovercraft of hers is much faster than the Sloth, even when it’s going flat out. Depending on traffic, I estimate she’ll get there about ten to fifteen minutes before you do.

“DAMMIT!” she cursed. “Give me some options.”

“Sorry, Kim, but there aren’t any, at least none that won’t take you over half an hour out of your way. In the end, you’ll lose more time than you’ll save.”

“Bastard! Guess I’ll have to find out just how hard I can push the Tweebs’ latest upgrades.”

“Good luck, Kim, and be careful,” Wade said before the screen went black.

Kim’s vision almost tunnelled as she weaved in and out of traffic, darting through gaps she had no right to fit through, skidding around corners and zipping through traffic lights just as they changed from green to red. Only one thing mattered to her now, _I am getting to that research lab before that bitch is done plundering it. Count on it!_

##

Shego lounged back in her chair, feet up on the control console as the autopilot rocketed her through the sky. Needless to say, the craft had an environmental shield, as all that wind would play havoc with her long raven hair. From a drink’s holder, she picked up her Grande sized soda and stared into the beady eyes of Ru-Ru, who sat perched atop a small table that folded out of the upholstery. “I’ll raise you five.”

The naked-mole-shark blew her a raspberry and kicked his cards towards her in disgust; actions which clearly said he folded.

Shego laughed as she deposited the small stack of peanuts from the left of the table into her increasingly full bowl. Slyly, she flipped over her cards and said, “got you again, I was bluffing.”

Ru-Ru started to hop up and down in a mad rage and uttered a string of unintelligible curses at her.

Since Monday, she’d been educating the naked-mole-shark in the art of playing poker, during the long trips between jobs, in order to evade having to discuss Kimmie with Miss Go and because it was rather amusing. While Ru-Ru was an excellent croupier, it transpired that Amy had never let him play and so he had yet to learn how to properly bluff. And while he was getting better, she’d still been cleaning him out of his share of the snacks every single game.

The naked-mole-shark looked up at her and then towards his dwindling bowl of peanuts.

“What’s the matter, Ru-Ru, you almost out of snacks again?” she teased. To add insult to injury, she picked up a peanut from her bowl, flicked it into the air and caught it in her mouth. She then flashed him a devilish smile.

“Rah-rah-rah!” Ru-Ru exclaimed as he gnashed his teeth. He then scampered around the table and collected in the cards. Shoving them to the bottom of the deck, he dealt them each another hand.

“If you insist,” Shego said with a feigned sigh and glanced at her hand; the queen of diamonds and her old nemesis, the ace of spades. Lazily she flicked a single peanut into the space designated for the pot.

Ru-Ru wasted no time in matching her bet and dealing the flop; the king of clubs, six of hearts and ten of diamonds.

Shego smiled internally but gave no indication of her satisfaction on her face. _Give me a jock on the turn or river and the last of your nuts are mine, Ru-Ru._

“Ok, I’ll go easy on you, two nuts.” She placed two peanuts into the pile.

The naked-mole-shark surprisingly managed to keep his face straight as he saw her two and raised her another two.

“Hmm, someone’s awfully brave when they’re short on nuts,” Shego said with a smile, matching his two.

Ru-Ru drew the turn card; the queen of clubs.

 _Ok, so I’ve got a pair at worst. And unless you’ve got a face card in that hand of yours, Ru-Ru, it’ll be no snacks for you again._ She offhandedly added five nuts to the pile and could see the look of infuriation in the naked-mole-shark’s beady black eyes. If he matched her wager this time, he’d have only five left. “Either see my bet or get off the pot, Sweetums,” Shego said in a voice one would normally use when talking to a baby.

Somehow Ru-Ru managed not to rise to the bait as he moved half his stack into the pile. He then dished out the river card; the jock of spades.

 _Jackpot!_ Shego thought, however, her brain was quickly drawn back to the hand she lost against Killigan. _If that little sod’s sitting with an ace and a king, I’m sunk. Chances of that… slim. So, let’s find out._

However, before she had the chance to do anything, Ru-Ru had slid the last of his nuts into the pile and flashed her a smile that showed off all of his razor-sharp shark teeth. “Fold,” he then challenged.

She smiled at him, “not a chance, Sweetums,” and then burst out laughing at the look of rage that formed on his small face. She then dropped ten peanuts into the pot one at a time and paused for a moment. “Oh, it looks like you don’t have enough to see my bet, Ru-Ru. I guess that means you lose automatically.”

A look of fury spread across the naked-mole-shark’s face, “cheat!” he yelled as he gnashed his teeth.

Shego gave him a wicked grin, “sorry, Ru-Ru, but that’s how the game works. If you can’t match the wager, you have to fold.” _Now we’ll see how much you’re willing to lose. “_ Unless, of course, you’re willing to bet your cheese ration against my peanuts?”

Ru-Ru looked murderous as he folded his arms and said, “more nuts.”

“Oh, you think your cheese ration is worth more nuts, do you?” She dropped another fifteen into the pot. “There, your cheese is worth an extra fifteen nuts. Now, let’s see your cards.”

Ru-Ru’s expression turned to one of glee as he flipped over his cards; the ace of hearts and ten of clubs. He flashed her a cheeky smile and bounded over to the stack of nuts.

“Not so fast,” Shego said as she ignited her glow and drew a tiny line of green flame in the air between the naked-mole-shark and the peanuts. “Rules of the game, all cards have to be shown before winnings are collected. And you’re supposed to be a stickler for the rules to.”

The flames faded quickly, but Ru-Ru stopped nonetheless. He then looked at her with his beady little eyes, his expression telling her to get on with it.

“Read ‘em and weep,” she declared triumphantly as she flicked her hand over; they both had a straight, but she had the better cards in hand. “A queen trumps a ten.”

The naked-mole-shark’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets and his jaw hit the table when he saw the queen of diamonds and the ace of spades. In a fit of rage, he then proceeded to kick the cards off the table.

Shego scooped up her peanuts and dropped them into her now full bowl. “No need to be a sore loser,” she said when eventually Ru-Ru stood panting in the centre of the table. She then gave him a warm smile, “you’re getting better. A few more games and you’ll be ready to beat Drakken and Amy.” She then picked up a handful of peanuts and placed them in his bowl. “You can eat these…”

Ru-Ru’s eyes lit up and the anger vanished from his face, as he went to dive upon the peanuts.

“… **after** you tidy up the mess you just made.”

The naked-mole-shark abruptly stopped and grumbled, but hopped down off the table to pick up the cards.

 _“Firm but fair, I approve,”_ Miss Go said as her image appeared inside Shego’s head. _“And you’re actually starting to be nice, also good.”_

 _Go away,_ Shego thought as she deposited some of her own peanuts into her mouth. _I don’t have time for you right now._

 _“You’ve been avoiding this all week, but you know we need to talk about it,”_ Miss Go replied. _“Why else do you think I keep popping up? Do you want it to get to the point where I start appearing while you’re trying to concentrate on a job again?”_

 _No,_ she replied, the memory of what had happened one month ago in regards to her wrestling with whether or not she could/should phone Kimmie, surfacing in her mind. _I just don’t want to be the catalyst that sends Princes tumbling into stage three._

_“But you do. Otherwise, why would you be avoiding the discussion? Remember, I show up whenever you need justification to do something that is out with your Shego persona. You want to do it; you’re just scared about admitting it… about what it might lead to.”_

_I am not,_ Shego bit back, slightly more forceful than she had intended. The control console suddenly started emitting a beeping sound. _Well, would you look at that, seems that we’ve reached the research facility. Guess I don’t have time for this right now._ Sitting forward, she scanned the instruments and saw that she was only a few miles away. Switching to manual control, she slowed the craft down so she could activate the cloak; it couldn’t be used at high speeds.

 _“Fine, but I’ll be waiting for you once you’re done,”_ Miss Go replied, making it clear that she would not be getting away from the discussion that easily.

Shego guided the craft until it was over the facility and lowered it down slowly so it was only a couple of meters above roof. Standing up, she had just started to flex off her joints, when her eyes caught sight of something out in the distance down on the ground below. Whatever it was, it sure was moving quickly. She gazed at it for a little longer and it slowly started to look like a purple missile. Quickly, she picked up the scope but didn’t need to look through it to know what it was. _Well, it’s about time, Kimmie._ She took a glance through the device anyway and saw the hero’s car speeding towards the facility, probably just under ten minutes away. _Guess I better get a move on. No time to do this the neat way, so it’s going to be the old-fashioned way._

She glanced at the table, where Ru-Ru, who had finished clearing away the playing cards, had started to eat his nuts. “Stay here and keep the engine going,” she commanded. “This one could get messy.”

Ru-Ru gave her a small salute and then went back to his nuts.

Deploying the hovercrafts cannon, Shego fired a blast at the roof and a massive hole exploded in the top of the building. Before the dust had cleared, she leapt down into it. _Ok, Kimmie, looks like it’s go time._

##

Kim heard the sound of an explosion and could see the cloud of dust billowing from the roof of the building. Foot slamming down even harder on the gas pedal, even though the Sloth was already at maximum speed, she hit the button for off-road mode and skidded the car off of the highway and onto the compacted dirt. Making a b-line straight for the facility, she flipped the cap atop the gearstick and pressed the red button. The Tweebs had warned her that their improved version of NOS was still experimental and could cause the engine to overheat, but she didn’t care. _I’ve waited far too long to get my hands on that bitch, I’m not letting her get away._ At the thought of Shego, she caught herself whispering, “I don’t like girls. I like boys.” _Damn you, Shego. Once I take you down, I’ll get you out of my head and that’ll be the end of this nonsense._

In the back of her head, she heard the small voice say, _“but what if…”_

Before the booming of the Barkin-dragon drowned it out, _“boys date girls, boys kiss girls and boys mate with girls. End of discussion.”_

“Boys kiss girls… and I like boys.”

The Sloth rocketed over the rough terrain, but the Tweebs had done a fantastic job with the new suspension system and so she barely felt a thing. In less than ten minutes she burst through the metal fence that surrounded the complex and skidded to a halt. With a cloud of burnt rubber rising around her, Kim climbed out of her car, whipped out her grapple and shot it straight up at the roof of the building. If that’s how Shego had gotten in, that’s how she’d be getting out. Zipping through the air, she did a mid-air summersault before landing perfectly on the cracked tiles. _That bitch is going down... for good this time._

##

Hands enveloped in green plasma, Shego blew the door into the lab off its hinges and wasted no time in waltzing through it. All around her, scientists scurried behind benches, dived into cupboards and one even jumped out a window. “Your fancy little quantum control circuit, where is it?” she demanded of the room, forming a plasma ball in her hand to emphasise straight off the bat that she wasn’t messing around.

A trembling man pointed towards a bench in the far corner. Marching over to him, she grabbed the back of his labcoat and dragged him towards the relevant bench.

“This thing?” she asked, pointing to a fancy device that was emitting a red laser beam.

“N…n…no,” he stammered, his hand then pointed to an unassuming box connected to the laser. “Th…tha…that’s i…i…it th…the…there.” He then squeaked, “please don’t hurt me.”

Shego could tell it from his voice that it wasn’t a lie. Releasing her grip on the man’s lab coat, she unplugged the small box, no bigger than twin decks of playing cards and slipped it into the pouch on her leg. “Thanks for your co-operation.”

Job done, she broke into a run and retraced her way back out of the lab, up two floors and back into the room where she had blown a hole in the roof. Forming two balls of plasma, she used them to propel herself up and out. Her brain had just started to ponder what she would do if Kimmie had not yet made it to the party when her piercing emerald eyes caught sight of the hero. _Looks like it’s time to dance._

##

“SHEGO!” Kim barked, the second she caught sight of the villainess shooting out of the hole; she’d only landed on the roof herself about ten seconds prior.

“Kimmie,” Shego replied with a smirk, “I was getting worried that your mommy wasn’t going to let you out to play anymore.” She watched as her rival’s fists clenched and her expression darkened. _Ha, I was only joking about that, but it seems like Mrs Dr P actually did lock her up while she recovered. Explains why I’ve not run into her before now._

Kim felt her cheeks redden slightly and hoped it had not been enough for the green-skinned woman to see. _Damn you, Shego. You are going down!_ Without even firing an insult in retaliation, she took to the air and leapt over the hole and descended with a side-kick.

Shego took a quick step back to avoid being hammered by the girl’s boot, a thin smile forming on her face. _Wow, not even a single witty remark. She is positively raging at me. Granted, she’s had three weeks to get madder and madder. Guess I should probably poke her with a few sticks._ “Gotta say, I love the new look, Princess. Aviators and a leather jacket go well with this new attitude of yours I’ve been reading all about in the papers.” _Granted I hospitalised Motor Ed too, after finding out he was using me as an accessory; misogynistic bastard._

Kim retaliated by firing off a turning-kick, hook-kick, inward-axe-kick combo, however, her rival evaded all three. “Enjoy the eye candy while it lasts, as the only style you’re going to be seeing from now on is orange jumpsuits,” she spat, unleashing a spinning-back-kick which she transitioned into a pair of jumping-front-snap-kicks. Yet again, Shego evaded. _Why the hell isn’t she fighting back?_ She quickly ignored the thought. If the green-skinned woman didn’t want to throw a punch, that was not her problem.

“Oh, I’m enjoying the eye candy, Kimmie. The question is, are you?” Shego had just enough time to seductively toss her hair before she had to start blocking a barrage of hand techniques that the hero began rattling off at lightning speed. However, she was not quick enough to stop a palm-heel from catching her in the sternum and sending her skidding backwards. _Fuck, that hurt. Guess I might have to hurry this up._ She did a backflip to put some distance between them and then said, “so, have you accepted that you like girls yet?”

The question caught Kim off-guard and she paused for a split second before firing back, “I **don’t** like girls. I like boys!” There was almost a hint of desperation about her response and she could not silence the small voice in the back of her head from saying, _“but what if you don’t?”_

“Are you sure about that, Kimmie? Because I can hear the uncertainty in your voice,” Shego replied, a thin smile forming on her lips. _She’s still denying it but there is definitely some doubt beginning to set in. Pretty soon, the right catalyst is going to send her hurtling into stage three; fear._

“I LIKE BOYS!” Kim screamed and she tore across the roof towards her rival. Taking to the air, she rattled off what was quickly becoming her trademark four-front-snap-kick combo, succeeding in breaking through her opponent’s guard with the final kick. Landing on the ground she lashed out at Shego’s face with a vicious fore-fist-punch, caught her in the jaw and sent her sprawling sideways across the roof. “FIGHT BACK!” she bellowed as she stormed towards the woman.

Shego spat out a mouthful of blood, but could not keep the smile for her lips. _Oh, yes, Kimmie, you are one massive cauldron full of anger and rage and given that it’s all directed towards me, I’ll bet you’ve been arguing with yourself over your sexuality every day since I kicked your butt three weeks ago._ She had to roll as the hero descended upon her with a punch. Transitioning into a backflip, Shego landed on her feet and flashed the girl a wicked smile. “Sorry, Kimmie, but time’s up. Guess I’ll see you around.”

“WHAT!” Kim yelled and in horror watched as her rival propelled herself into the air and landed on something invisible. _Shit, her hovercraft!_ “OH, NO, YOU DON’T!” Whipping out her grapple, she fired it in the direction of the green-skinned woman, but could only watch as Shego ignited her plasma and sliced through it. Breaking into a run she bolted towards her. “YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY!”

Shego hit the button to increase the hovercraft’s altitude, just as Kimmie took a running jump for it. She watched as the hero flew through the air and landed back on the roof. _Perfect, this is only going to piss her off even further and I bet I can keep her mind firmly on me; on her sexuality, for the next couple of hours at least._ “Better luck next time, Princess,” she said with a mocking laugh. “How about we play a little game? I’m headed to the Chicago Institute of Science and Technology for my next job, bet I can beat you there.” She drank in the look of pure hate on the girl’s face and flashed her a devilish grin.

Kim balled her fists and they began to shake as she glared murderously up at her rival. “FUCK YOU, SHEGO! THIS ISN’T OVER!” she bellowed, but it was the only thing she could do. With her grapple now useless, she had no way of propelling herself high enough to reach the hovercraft. _I am going to kill you when I get hold of you!_

As a parting shot, Shego then added, “remember, Kimmie, boys kiss girls. But boys can also kiss boys and **girls** can kiss **girls**.”

In a pure livid rage, Kim could only watch as the green-skinned woman zoomed off. “I like **BOYS!** ” she yelled after her, but the only thing she received in return was a voice from inside her own head whispering, _“but what if…”_ For a moment, all she could do was stare after the hovercraft. “…I like boys.”

Pressing the button for Wade, Kim dropped down into the hole that Shego had made, given that, without her grapple, she had no other way off of the roof.

“What’s up, Kim?” Wade asked upon answering, what looked like a chimirito in his hand.

“I need a ride that’ll get me to the Chicago Institute of Science and Technology **faster** than Shego can,” she rattled off at lightning pace as she sprinted through the building; startling anyone who happened to see her pass.

“Whoa, slow down, Kim. Why do you need to get to C.I.S.T?”

“That’s Shego’s next target,” she replied, bursting into a stairwell.

“How did you figure that out?” Wade asked, taking a bite out of his chimirito.

“Because she just told me,” Kim spat.

“And we’re trusting Shego when she tells you where she’s going to rob next, why?”

Jumping down each flight of stairs, she felt the collective shock from each landing build up in her legs but ignored it. “Because she’s telling the truth!”

“Kim, I don’t mean to sound condescending, but why on earth would Shego tell **you** the truth about where she’s going to rob next?” Wade replied. “It doesn’t make any logical sense.”

“Because she’s playing some twisted game and **wants** me to follow her,” she spat viciously as she broke out of the stairwell and began sprinting for the exit. “Now get me that ride!”

“Ok, Kim,” Wade sighed in defeat, “I’m on it. However, I think you’re crazy for playing along with whatever game she’s got going on. You don’t even know what Drakken is plan…”

“This has nothing to do with fucking Drakken!” she yelled hotly. “This is personal!”

The sound of the tech guru typing on his keyboard was all she could hear as she broke out of the main entrance and made a b-line for the Sloth. “Some time today, Wade.”

“Ok, I’ve got a military transport plane standing by at the nearby airbase, sending you the coordinates now. It’ll drop you and the Sloth off just outside of Chicago. You’ll need to make your way into the city from there. However, I still think you’re mad for blindly chasing after her.”

“I don’t care,” Kim spat as she climbed into the Sloth, “I’m taking her down!”

She hung up the call, started her car and was back on the move before the onboard computer screen had even flickered into life. _You are not getting away from me this time, Shego!_

##

Shego sat back in her seat and emptied her mind as she allowed her glow to heal the minor injuries she’d sustained from round one with Kimmie. She’d left the hovercraft in the hands of the autopilot and Ru-Ru with a large bag of onion rings.

However, the moment she felt the last drips of pain ebb, Miss Go immediately said, _“well, that was interesting. Care to explain the thought process?”_

Even though her eyes were closed, Shego still rolled them, _I got what I came for, Kimmie was spoiling for a fight and I didn’t give it to her, simple as that._

_“Hmm, for someone who only cares about fighting Kim that seems like a bit of an odd thing to do, wouldn’t you agree?”_

She let out a low breath, _call it revenge for her leading me on. She wanted to fight; I chose not to give her what she wanted._

 _“Personally, I call it bullshit,”_ Miss Go replied. _“If it was that simple, you wouldn’t have told her where you’re headed next.”_

_Hey, I’m entitled to have some measure of fun when I’m working. I’ve been stealing stuff for two and a half weeks solid and it’s been boring as hell._

_“So, all that stuff about her liking girls was what exactly?”_

_Doy, me messing with her head, nothing more._

_“More like you sounding her out, trying to figure out where she’s at so you know when she’ll be susceptible to exposure to a catalyst,”_ Miss Go replied and then added, _“don’t think I didn’t notice what you were thinking during that fight. You’re purposefully trying to nudge her close to the edge so **you** can be the one to push her off.”_

 _I am not!_ Shego spat viciously… _I can’t… I…_

 _“I understand,”_ Miss Go said softly. _“You’re worried about what might happen if you get involved with her… about what it might lead too.”_

Shego sighed, _I can’t do it… It can’t be me… I can’t…_

_“Yes, you can. You can do anything you want. You’re not forever constrained by the persona you’ve created for Shego.”_

_What are you saying, that I should go back to being She…_

_“I’m definitely not saying that,”_ Miss Go cut in quickly. _“I’m simply saying that you don’t have to live by the constraints of being Shego, if you don’t want to. Be who you want to be. Do what you want to do. And if that means helping Kimmie, even if it is purely for her benefit and you get nothing out of it, then do it. Don’t be afraid to actually live.”_

Shego took a deep breath in through her nose and opened her eyes. _Ok, do what I want to do…_ she thought for a moment, _Kimmie’s not quite ready yet and C.I.S.T. is certainly not the place. If I toy with her a little and then give her another nudge, it might just be enough come next time… who knows, maybe once she’s ready, I’ll be ready too._

##

Kim sat inside the stationary Sloth, which was anchored down inside the back of a US air force cargo plane. Her eyes were closed as she watched yet another vicious battle rage between the Barkin-dragon and Shego. Much to her disgust, the green-skinned woman was giving as good as she got.

 _Roast her alive, Mr B!_ Kim internally yelled in anger, as she watched flames spew forth from the Barkin-dragon’s mouth.

Shego leapt over them and landed upon the beast’s head with a two-footed stomp. _“She likes girls, Stevie-boy.”_

The Barkin-dragon snapped at the raven-haired woman’s heals, but caught only a mouthful of air as she flipped out with his reach. _“She likes boys,”_ it barked, the words echoing around her head.

 _Yeah, I like boys!_ Kim yelled in agreement.

As though her words had emboldened the beast, the Barkin-dragon let out another stream of orange flames. Given that she was still in the air, Shego was powerless to stop them enveloping her.

_Yeah, you rock, Mr B!_

However, her gaze widened in horror as, once the smoke had cleared, she saw that Shego was completely unburned. _“Sorry, Stevie-boy, but I’m fire-resistant. However, two can play at that game.”_ Kim could only watch as for the first time in one of these duals, her rival ignited her fists in flaming green plasma. _“How fire-proof are you, Stevie-boy?”_ Shego goaded as she leapt towards her foe.

The Barkin-dragon had to rear on its hind legs to avoid the green-skinned woman’s initial slices. However, it couldn’t stay like that forever and when it tried to lunge at Shego with its jaws, the woman effortlessly evaded it and brought one of her flaming fists down and cleaved off one of its monstrous horns. The beast roared, its cry a mixture of pain and rage; as it charged around in a daze.

 _“She likes girls, Stevie-boy,”_ Shego turned to stare directly at her, _“don’t you, Kimmie?”_

Those piercing emerald orbs bored into her olive-greens and set Kim’s soul alight. She felt a wave of giddiness crash over her. _I like…_ the sentence died on her tongue as she once more felt the weight of her family, friends, schooling and society force itself down atop her. The voices of everyone who had ever been important to her whispered in her ear, _“you like boys, Kim.”_

_I like…_

The Barkin-dragon charged back onto the scene and tossed Shego into the air with a wild thrust of its massive head. However, the green-skinned woman quickly recovered and soon the pair were once more engaged in their dual. Completely helpless, all Kim could do was stand and watch and she quickly began to feel like nothing more than a piece of meat over which the two were fighting. Eventually, unable to stand the continual fighting anymore, she fell to her knees, closed her eyes and put her hands over her ears to try and drown out the sounds. _Why is this happening to me?_ she asked herself.

To her horror, a girl’s voice from somewhere deep in her memory then whispered a reply in her ear, _“because you deserve it.”_

A wave of dread crashed over Kim. She knew that voice, knew the girl to whom it belonged and knew it came from one of her worst… most shameful memories. She opened her eyes to see a girl, dressed in a Middleton High cheerleaders outfit standing in front of her. _Lisa…_ she whispered, her eyes wide and a hint of fear lacing her tone, _…I’m…_

A loud, sharp rap on the window of the Sloth caused Kim to jolt out of her daydream and her eyes snapped open. She turned and stared out of the window and saw one of the aeroplane crew standing outside the vehicle.

“We’re ready for the drop, Miss Possible,” he said.

“Oh… ummm… ok,” Kim replied, her brain taking a few moments to process where she was and what the hell was going on. Then she remembered Shego and her anger spiked again. _This is all her fault! That bitch is going down!_

In front of her, the cargo door of the plane opened and a second member of the crew gave her the signal to drive forward. This was a first for Kim but had been on her bucket list of things to do. Shoving the Sloth into gear, she drove forward and out the back of the plane.

##  
Shego had arrived at C.I.S.T and upon detecting no sign of Kimmie, had put her feet up inside the cloaked hovercraft and elected to wait. This was the last job she had to do in order for Drakken to finish his lightning-ray and so she ought to have simply snuck in, snagged the component and high-tailed it off to the volcano lair. But this was no longer about Drakken or his plan. The matter had become personal. Eventually, about half an hour after her arrival, the hovercraft’s scanners had picked up a military cargo plane passing over the outskirts of the city and it dropping something out its ass. She’d found it easily enough with her scope and been unsurprised to see Kimmie’s car parachuting down to the ground. It had then simply been a matter of waiting until the hero was approximately ten minutes or so out, before she blew a hole in the roof, dropped in and plundered the place.

With a strong sense of déjà vu, Shego hopped back out onto the roof of facility number two and met the gaze of her rival, the anger practically radiating off the hero. “Hey, Princess,” she said with a dollop of sass, “looks like I beat you again. I’m now three for three.”

Kim’s fists clenched once again at the reminder of her humiliation three weeks prior and of having the green-skinned woman slip through her fingers back in Nevada. However, instead of leaping straight into combat, she shot back, “fine, Shego three, Kim… too many to even count.”

“Wow, what a way to wound me, Kimmie, and here I thought you wanted to be my friend,” Shego’s words were akin to touching the cheese on a mousetrap, as no sooner had they left her mouth, the hero had shot towards her. She had to dodge a triple turning-kick, reverse-turning-kick combo, however, elected to block the last one and expose the hero’s back.

Over her shoulder, Kim saw the claw attack coming and immediately did a cartwheel, kicking out and catching her rival’s hand with her feet. _So, she’s actually going to fight me this time, good._ She twirled around and dashed towards Shego once more. This time she led with a side-kick but had her foot knocked to the ground by a well-timed axe-kick. Quickly she closed to hand range and they started to trade blows.

As it stood, Shego had no desire to actually fight Kimmie, that would come later, however, playing defensive again would not allow her to get close enough to do what she needed to. Deflecting a knife-hand strike with an outer-forearm-block, she feinted a palm-heel towards the hero’s face and when the girl’s other hand came across to block it, she drove both her right-hand elbow and knee at Princess’ head and abdomen respectively.

With a shortage of hands and unable to bring her own knee up in time, Kim blocked the elbow to her face but took the bulk of the force from the knee-strike to her gut. A twin-palm-heel strike then sent her stumbling backwards. _Dammit!_ she cursed internally, her anger abating just long enough for her to take stock of the damage; nothing serious.

“So, Kimmie, admitted to yourself that you like girls yet?” Shego goaded, knowing that keeping the girl off balance and spiking her anger would eventually net her the opening she needed.

“Will you shut the fuck up about that crap!” Kim yelled viciously. However, her voice trembled somewhat as she said, “I like boys.” She then shot forward and rattled off consecutive axe-kicks. Shego evaded both and so she followed up with a front-snap-kick, side-kick, turning-kick combo, but had them all blocked.

On blocking Kimmie’s last kick, Shego slid into hand range and fired off a series of knife-hand strikes. Unsurprisingly, the hero was a match for them and they were soon embroiled in a blow for blow bout until their forearms ended up locked together. Naturally, Princess tried to pull herself free, but she held firm long enough to say, “geez, Cupcake, it’s almost as if you have a problem with the fact you’re gay.”

“Argh!” Kim yelled and she wrenched her hands out of the lock, however, the resultant force caused her to stagger backwards slightly. “I don’t have a problem, because I’m **not** gay.” Inside her head, a new thought crept in as she said those words, _I can’t be gay._

Shego had just enough time to say, “that’s not what everything about you has been saying since Spritzers. Maybe you need a little reminder of what happened that night,” before Kimmie came at her again.

“What the hell would you know about it anyway!” Kim barked as she threw a turning-kick at her rival’s head. When it went over the top, she used the momentum to transition into a foot sweep.

After evading Kimmie’s kick’s, Shego did a quick double backflip, so as to put some distance between them and then stopped to give the hero a sideways glance. “News flash, Princess, I would know because I happen to be gay.”

The news should not have come as a surprise to Kim. Shego had both implied it after their fight in the Middleton High playing fields and then again when she’d asked her if their second night in Spritzers was supposed to have been a date. However, actually hearing her openly say it, had the same effect as if it had been a total shock. She froze and stared wide-eyed at the green-skinned woman.

Shego saw her opportunity and took it. With Kimmie looking like she had just seen a ghost she darted forward. Flashing across the girl’s path, she gave her a wicked smile and a wink, before planting a kiss on her right cheek; the exact same spot as in Spritzers. The softness and warmth she felt from brushing her lips against the red-haired vixen’s cheek lit a fire inside her and she had to forcibly quell all thoughts about wanting more. _No, this is neither the time nor the place. That one small taste is all either of us gets._

Kim saw Shego move, but her brain was still too stunned by the ‘revelation’ about the villain’s sexuality to react. Next second, the woman was flashing her a wicked smile and a wink and it dawned on her too late that she had seen that exact same look before. Right before Shego had whispered in her ear in Spritzers and then… Kim felt a pair of soft lips plant a light kiss on her cheek and the result was akin to someone having just shoved a metal pole up her backside and then hooking it up to the mains. And the resultant jolt that shot through her was enough to blow every fuse in her brain and one she had experienced only once before… the last time the woman had kissed her.

Shego, who had taken herself clear of kicking range, turned around just in time to see Kimmie’s cheeks turn crimson. _Damn, she’s every bit as cute as when I did that back in Spritzers. However, when she snaps out of it this time, she’s likely to be pissed as a hornet. Guess I should get out of here and leave her to stew._ Using her plasma to propel herself into the air, she landed on the edge of the cloaked hovercraft.

Kim raised a hand and touched the slightly damp spot on her cheek. _She just kissed me…_ Her skin tingled and she could feel a rush of excitement shoot through her. _She just kissed me and it felt…_ Kim shook her head as she looked at the faint residue of black lipstick on her fingertips. S _he just fucking kissed me!_ Anger erupting inside her like lava inside a volcano, she spun around to locate her rival. _Where the hell is that bitch? I’ll kill her!_

“Up here, Kimmie,” Shego called from inside the rising hovercraft. “Still going to tell me you don’t like girls?”

“SHEGO!” Kim roared, “DON’T YOU DARE RUN AWAY AGAIN!” She whipped out her grapple and fired it upwards, but it met with the same result as back in Nevada; a knife-hand of green plasma _._ “YOU BASTARD!”

“Sorry, Princess, gotta dash,” Shego laughed. “Dr D really needs this component to finish his new doomsday weapon. However, you should drop by our new lair sometime so we can finish our little chat.”

“SHEGO, GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME!” Kim screamed up at her rival, her free fist clenched and shaking. She had never wanted to hurt the woman so badly in her life, but could only watch as yet again she escaped her clutches.

“Sorry, Kimmie, can’t hear you from all the way up here,” Shego mocked. _Oh, she is going to be so angry next time we meet, she might actually try to kill me again._ “However, I’ll give you this for nothing, Dr D had to build a new lair to power his latest toy, as commandeering a nuclear reactor wasn’t grand enough. It is so totally **hot**.” _There, that should give her nerdlinger enough to figure out where we are by tomorrow._ “Be a good girl now,” when she had finished, Shego sat down at the controls and zoomed away, however, kept the ship slow enough so she could maintain the cloak. For she did not want Kimmie finding her too soon.

“SHEGO!” Kim yelled again as she was again forced to watch the woman fly off. In a fit of blind rage, she fired a kick at a chunk of rubble from the roof and split it in two. _When I get my hands on her, I’ll…_ she could not even finish the thought as her anger was so great that nothing she could think of seemed strong enough. Positively seething, she did the only thing she could and stalked towards the hole in the roof. Her revenge having been delayed yet again.


	34. The flames burn higher and higher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, chapter 3 of 5. This one was originally part of the previous chapter, which, for a time made it the new longest chapter I've ever written. However, I felt it would be better as a chapter in its own right. It would also have been the point that I might have decided to end this update, had I not managed to finish the next two chapters. This time, we're heading out into outer space with space-rock band Hawkwind for the chapter title. The flames burn higher and higher is a lyric from Farneheight 451, a track from their Choose your masques album (a reference to the book of the same name).

It had been a long trip back to the volcano lair, during which Shego had started teaching Ru-Ru some other card games, along with playing another round of poker. All in the name of delaying the inevitable. On getting back, she’d given Drakken the final piece of the puzzle, then sat down to eat a late dinner. Now back in her room, with the door securely locked and the naked-mole-shark passed out amidst a sea of cheese puffs on the sofa in front of the new TV, she lay butt naked under the covers.

Slowly Shego ran her hands over her midriff and up towards her voluptuous breasts. It had been far too long since she had actually done this and not being at home meant she was limited to doing things the old-fashioned way; with hands and brain only. However, before her fingers even managed to touch the soft skin of her boobs, she heard the unmistakable voice of Miss Go in the back of her head.

 _“So, you decided to go for it and push Kim close to the edge,”_ the woman said playfully. “ _Admittedly, I wasn’t sure you would actually do it.”_

 _Seriously, when I’m about to get myself off?_ Shego retorted incredulously.

Miss Go laughed, _“remember, Pumpkin, it’s your brain. Clearly, you want to think about this before playtime.”_

She sighed, knowing full well that is was indeed her brain and that, as infuriating as it may be, she would have to deal with the issue before being able to concentrate on something fun. _Fine, let’s get this over with. What the hell do you want to dissect this time?_

_“Doy, Cupcake, that little stunt you pulled with Kim.”_

_What about it? I pecked her on the cheek to remind her of how she felt when I did the same thing to her back in Spritzers…_ On mentioning the second night she had spent with Kimmie, Shego couldn’t help but think to herself, _Spritzers… I can’t believe that was almost a month ago. It feels like it was both yesterday and a lifetime ago…_

The thought was then interrupted by Miss Go, _“so, was that supposed to be the catalyst to send Kim spiralling into fear? If so, it felt rather half-assed, to be honest.”_

She slowly exhaled, _no. Like I said, that was simply something to remind Kimmie of how she felt back in Spritzers… how she felt about me._

 _“Don’t you mean, how you **assume** she felt,”_ Miss Go interjected.

 _Fair point, however, you agreed with me afterwards that Kimmie was definitely flirting with me that night. And we both saw how she reacted when I kissed her. I just made the mistake of leaving her alone…_ Shego felt an uncharacteristic twinge of guilt upon recalling how she had played the situation in Spritzers. Granted, at the time, it seemed exactly the thing to do. Leave Princess to stew for five minutes, allowing her newfound feelings to bubble inside, like a balloon filling with air, until she had been about to burst. Then swoop back in and pop it with one well-placed pin and shower the hero with desire and lust. Unfortunately, for both of them, Kimmie had somehow managed to suppress all her feelings. _If only I hadn’t left her… I might have been able to fast track her through the process…_ fragments of memory from her own long and arduous journey to acceptance flashed through her mind … _saved her a lot of torment._

 _“There’s no point in thinking about what you could or should have done,”_ Miss Go said softly. _“You need to focus on what you’re going to do with the situation as it is.”_

 _Yeah,_ she sighed with a hint of regret, _I can’t change how things went down that night._

_“So, what’s the plan, if that wasn’t supposed to be the catalyst?”_

_Well, assuming Nerdlinger doesn’t figure out where we are before morning and Kimmie then decides to drop in on us while we’re asleep, her minds going to be fixated on that little kiss and the one from Spritzers all night._

_“Then come tomorrow…”_ Miss Go encouraged.

 _Our little pent up ball of anger and confusion pops over for a visit, we duke it out, I prod her over the whole thing and we see what happens,_ Shego replied. _While we’re at it, Drakken’s lightning ray might even get destroyed._

 _“Seriously, that’s the extent of your plan?”_ Miss Go admonished. _“That sounds about as reliable as one of Drakken’s.”_

For once, she did not rise to the bait, as she actually agreed. The plan sucked; however, _I can’t concoct something more concrete until I see how Kimmie reacts tomorrow. We both know there’s a chance, even if it’s only a small one, that she shows up hell-bent on killing me. In which case, I’ll be fighting for my life, not trying to elicit a gay moment from her. I need her angry, not murderous._

_“Good, it sounds like you’ve actually thought things through for once. What if she is murderous?”_

_I’m not sure,_ Shego replied truthfully. _I probably stop her from killing me while also skewing her towards stopping Drakken. This place goes boom, he and I escape and hopefully next time we meet, she less inclined to kill me._

_“Sounds a bit shaky if you ask me, but I can see the problem and why playing it by ear is the only option. However, have you decided what you actually want to happen? What your ideal outcome would be?”_

Without realising it, Shego’s eyes had closed and her hands began to lightly massage her breasts when an image of Kimmie filled her head. Her mind then gave her a full sensory memory of the light kiss she had planted on the girl’s cheek that evening. She could smell the hints of cherry and almond from the hero’s flaming red tresses; mixed with subtle traces of rose that must have come from her moisturiser. Feel the warmth of Princess’ soft skin against her lips and taste its slight saltiness. Then she saw the girl’s cheeks turn red… Shego pinched her nipples and sent a jolt through her body that caused her to shudder.

 _“Well, that answers that question,”_ Miss Go said playfully.

“Dammit,” Shego cursed out loud upon realising what the memory had just done. Her nipples were now solid and she could feel a warmth between her legs; along with a deep-seated lust rise up inside her.

 _“You’re still trying to fight it,”_ Miss Go said in amusement, _“I can help with that…”_

Shego could only watch in horror as the woman then transformed into a perfect replica of Princess, dressed as she had been today in her red mission outfit; complete with the leather jacket and aviators.

 _“How do I look?”_ Kimmie said, the voice too exactly on point.

 _No, not doing this… not going to happen…_ while she formed the thought her hands had already started to massage her breasts and her fingers lightly pinch at her nipples. “Urgh,” she grunted when she felt another jolt of pleasure course through her body.

Inside her mind, Kimmie flashed her a grin and sensually strutted over to stand right in front of her. _“I’ll take that to mean that you think I’m hot.”_

 _Yes…_ Shego replied, her voice unsteady… mind struggling to reconcile how wrong this was with how right it felt. She squeezed her breasts together and twisted her nipples to the point that she yelped in pain, “argh!” It was a good thing she always ensured the walls to her bedrooms within Drakken’s lairs were soundproofed.

Kimmie’s aviators vanished as she slipped off her jacket and Shego found herself staring into those big, perfect olive-green eyes. _“Want to see more,”_ the hero teased as she tossed her flaming red mane.

 _Yes…_ Shego replied, feeling the dampness in her crotch and the overwhelming desire to begin fingering herself.

The girl wiggled her lithe frame as she pulled her red t-shirt over her head to reveal her taut midriff and her perky breasts; hidden behind a classy blue and black satin bra. _“If you want more, it’s going to cost you…”_

Without hesitation, she slid one hand down and began to lightly massage her whole vaginal area with the flat of her fingers. “Urgh,” she grunted as a jolt of pleasure shot through her and doused the fire building inside her with petrol… _ok, now show me the goods._

Kimmie laughed as she turned around, bent over and wiggled her ass at her. However, as the girl straightened up, Shego could see her hands seductively reach behind her back and unhook her bra. The hero gave her a sassy smile and a wink over her shoulder, tossed the garment aside and then proceeded to twist her lithe frame from side to side in the most teasing and provocative way imaginable.

 _I can’t **like** Kimmie, _Shego thought, as she slowed her hand motions; holding her level of pleasure and desire steady. _She’s a hero and I’m a villain. This is so wrong…_

 _“…but so right,”_ Kimmie replied seductively as she turned around to show off her perky breasts and erect nipples. _“You know you want me, Shego. Just accept it and you can have me all to yourself.”_

“Ahhh,” Shego moaned as her index finger zeroed in on her clit and sent a wave of pleasure rushing through her. _…so… wrong…_ “urgh!”

 _“You know you can’t resist me,”_ Kimmie whispered as she pressed her breasts together and then began to rub her erect nipples.

 _Urgh… more…_ Shego panted, as she began to rub and squeeze at her clit with her thumb and forefinger.

 _“Ok, but I want to see some fingering,”_ the hero commanded.

This was an unusual position for Shego to find herself in while masturbating. Normally, she was in control of her fantasies. She dominated whatever make-believe woman her brain conjured up or whatever bitch she was watching being fucked in a porno. However, for some reason, be it her struggle to accept that she **liked** Kimmie or her mutual respect for her as a dominant woman, she found herself at the hero’s mercy and did as instructed. Sucking a finger until it was coated in saliva, she gently slipped it inside her soaking pussy, “UHHH!”

Kimmie responded by slipping down her trousers and panties; that matched her bra and sat down with her legs spread. Even though it was all in her own head, the sight of the red-haired vixen sitting naked before her; pussy on full display, almost made Shego pop there and then. With one hand furiously working at her clit, she began to thrust in and out with two fingers. She watched as the hero began to do the same and their short sharp moans began to synch every time a clit was pinched or a g-spot rubbed.

At great speed, Shego felt her orgasm begin to build. Her emerald gaze met with the hero’s olive greens and she found herself captivated by those perfect eyes. Nevertheless, she moaned, “so… wrong…”

Only for Kimmie to once more reply, _“but so right.”_

Both of them moaned again and Shego could feel herself getting close. Indeed, all it took was for the hero to seductively say, _“are you going to cum for me?”_ For her to yell…

“YES!” The floodgates opened and a torrent of pleasure swept over her as all her muscles tensed and her mind was hurtled through a corridor of multi-coloured lights at breakneck speed. It took several seconds for her to come back down from the amazing high, but even when she did, several aftershocks rocked her body.

Shego lay in a sweaty heap under her sheets, cheeks a slightly darker shade of green and a glassy look in her eyes. It took several moments before her brain was able to even form the sound, “urgh,” let alone for her mouth to actually utter it. A full thirty seconds passed, after which she finally had the capacity to slide her fingers out of her vagina; which had tensed around them like an electric shock had passed through it. She took in a ragged breath and blinked a couple of times before sitting up. The duvet slid off of her shoulders as she took stock of herself. That had felt good… really good. And with this realisation, a single thought passed through her mind, which she immediately vocalised, “dammit!”

##

Kim was in a foul mood. No, scratch that, she’d been in a foul mood for the past three weeks and it did not compare with how she currently felt. After Shego had escaped from her clutches for the second time that day, she had immediately called Wade, only to find out that the bitch’s nifty new cloaking device meant he had been unable to track her hovercraft. She had, of course, supplied him with the scant information the green-skinned woman had given to her, but been told that it was not enough for him to give her a location yet. However, he had added it to the simulation he had been running, based on all the tech that had recently been stolen, with the hopes of figuring out what Drakken was currently building and where. For once, she couldn’t have cared less about what the mad scientist had been creating, even if it would be a genuine threat to the world. No, this was about one thing and one thing only, Shego.

In the end, Kim had been forced to find a hotel in Chicago at which to spend the night. It had been that, or hitch a ride back to Middleton, something she had not relished the thought of. While she’d done this virtually once a week minimum since turning pro, the whole process from finding a hotel, making a reservation, driving to it through the late rush hour traffic and then checking in, had frayed upon her last nerve to the point that she had stormed up to her room, slammed the door shut and ordered room service. However, even a large pepperoni pizza and bottles of apple sours and lemonade, yeah her mood was that bad she’d resorted to drinking alone in her room, did nothing to help abate her anger or stop the thoughts that had been eating at her brain since she had hung up on Wade. Eventually, she’d climbed into bed, slightly drunk and willed sleep to take her.

Kim lay amidst the foreign sheets of the hotel bedroom but was still very much awake. In hindsight, she probably should have gone home. At least that way she’d be in her own bed and have Pandaroo with whom she could cuddle. Although she doubted it would have helped. Once more, like someone had hit repeat on the CD player, the two tracks featuring the kisses that Shego had planted on her right cheek, played over and over and over.

The first, back in Spritzers a month ago, had come at a time when the green-skinned woman had already driven her into a state of embarrassment so great that she could have put the embarrassment ninjas out of business had she the mind. Everything, from having looked at the waitress and thinking that she had been hot, through Shego asking her who she would rather have kissed, had caused her cheeks to burn brighter than her own hair. And they had been on full display for the woman opposite her to both notice and take advantage of. The woman had then ratcheted things up several notches by flirting with her and highlighting the fact that the waitress, while hot, could not hold a candle to herself. The fact that Kim had agreed with that assessment had been enough to sear a brand on her soul that she had desperately tried and until today managed, to burry.

“I like boys!” Kim yelled angrily as she pummelled the mattress with her fist. _Shego simply caught me at a point when I was desperately searching for a friend and used it to mess with my head!_

Unfortunately, the memory did not end there. Shego had then slipped out of her booth, reached over and whispered in her ear, causing the hairs on the back of Kim’s neck to stand on end and then planted a light kiss on her burning cheek. She could still recall with unwanted detail, the softness of the green-skinned woman’s lips touching her skin and the electric shock that had shot through her body. The memory of that happening just once was bad enough, except now it had a companion.

The scene changed and now she stood atop the roof of C.I.S.T; Shego only a few meters across from her. They had traded several blows, although none serious. Like during their previous engagement earlier that day, the green-skinned woman had continued to annoy her with stupid questions regarding her sexuality. Then and Kim still could not figure out why the bitch had managed to root her to the spot with a non-revelation about the fact that she herself was gay. Her moment of shock and stupidity had given Shego all the impetus she’d needed and like a rerun of Spritzers, the woman had flashed her a smile and a wink and then planted a kiss in exactly the same spot as before. Unfortunately, the result, like someone had shoved a metal pole up her backside and then hooked it up to the mains, had been exactly the same as when Shego had kissed her in the bar. Worse yet, Kim knew those two instances were the only time she had ever felt like that. No boy had ever elicited that kind of response from her.

“I’m not gay!” Kim shouted as she hammered her fists into the mattress again. The thought from earlier in the day floated through her mind once more, _I can’t be gay_. This forced her to reiterate her recent mantra, “I **like** boys!” While still absolutely livid at even having to reaffirm it to herself, at Shego for messing with her head and more so at herself for allowing it to happen in the first place, she could not ignore the desperation that now laced her voice when she said those words. _Once I’ve dealt with that bitch and sent her off to jail, I **need** to go out and find a nice boy to kiss. Only this time I’ll do it myself and find someone more interesting. Matt was such a wet blanket._

Rolling over, her mind seemingly made up and the issue dealt with, Kim closed her eyes and tried to get to sleep. Except her brain it seemed was not done, for after a few minutes of lying in the blackness of her own mind, did she hear the monstrous roar of the Barkin-dragon, quickly followed by the unmistakable laugh of Shego. She glanced around, but could not see either.

 _Go away!_ Kim yelled internally, now very much fed up of both anthropomorphic personifications.

 _“Sorry, Possible,”_ the Barkin-dragon boomed, _“but this is for your own good. Someone has to put that villain back in her box.”_

 _You’re not doing a very good job of keeping her there!_ Kim spat. While the creature was supposedly on her side, she’d had just about enough of its increasing ineptitude.

 _“That’s all your doing, Princess,”_ Shego said slyly. _“If you just admitted that you liked girls, you could give old Stevie-boy the boot and you and I could have some fun.”_

 _I **LIKE** BOYS! _She yelled viciously, but again the desperation in her voice was apparent… _I can’t be gay._

 _“She likes boys!”_ the Barkin-dragon roared in agreement.

 _“But what if…”_ the small voice in the back of her head whispered.

This was enough for Shego to leap upon. _“She likes girls!”_

Like an explosion had just gone off inside her head, the two entities burst into view and began to fight once more. It was fast, furious and defied all logic. One moment Shego and the Barkin-dragon would be in front of her; trading blows, only for them to blink out of existence the next and then reappear somewhere else and continue their vicious battle. Kim fell to her knees once more, the same thought from earlier in the day passing through her mind, _why is this happening to me?_

And like when she had been sitting inside the Sloth, the voice from earlier replied, _“because you deserve it.”_

Kim turned her head and saw the girl from before standing before her; again clad in a Middleton High cheerleaders’ outfit. _Lisa…_ she whispered, the same sense of dread that she had experienced earlier in the day starting to fill her… _please… not you._

 _“I’m surprised you even remember me, Kim,”_ the girl spat with venom. _“Or am I that one dirty little secret that your brain just won’t let you forget, no matter how deep you bury me?”_

 _Lisa…_ she stammered… _why are you…_

 _“Why have I suddenly decided to put in an appearance, after you thought you’d managed to permanently bury me?”_ the girl replied in a mocking tone. _“Why don’t I remind you.”_

Suddenly the ground beneath Kim exploded into sharp fragments and she helplessly began to fall backwards down a dark chasm. She screamed but could do nothing to halt her descent, as the continued battle between Shego and the Barkin-dragon quickly became a faint speck in the distance. Somehow, most likely due to the fact that this was all happening inside her own head, Kim hit the ground face-first. She felt the pain shoot through her body and she cried out, but received no answer. Opening her eyes, she struggled to bring herself up onto her knees. Like a curtain was lifting all around her as she rose, the Middleton High gymnasium slowly came into view. And when she looked at herself, she found that she was wearing her old cheerleading outfit. Her eyes darted around, eventually catching sight of Lisa lounging on the bleachers.

 _Why have you brought me here?_ she demanded, but deep down already knew the answer.

 _“Don’t you remember,”_ Lisa mocked.

As much as she wished she didn’t, Kim did remember. This was the location of her singular worst high school memory. One she had tried to bury deep inside her mind. One she had desperately tried to hide from the guilt of… from the shame. _Lisa…_ she began, but words failed her.

 _“You know it’s actually kind of ironic, isn’t it, Kim,”_ Lisa said mockingly. _“That you’re now suffering like this. Your own mind at war with itself. Isn’t it?”_

 _Lisa…_ Kim whispered, her voice close to cracking, _I’m…_

The girl completely ignored her and continued, _“actually, it’s more than ironic. It’s fitting. A fitting punishment for a wretched excuse for a human being.”_

_Lisa… I never wanted to do it…_

_“But you did anyway. Now you’re paying for it. And from what I saw up there,”_ the girl pointed through the roof, where the faint outline of Shego and the Barkin-dragon could still be seen; locked in combat, _“you’re going to be stuck like this for a long time. I hope it’s hell, Kim. Because you deserve nothing less.”_

 _Lisa…_ Kim said, tears breaking through the corners of her eyes. She lowered her head, knowing that nothing she could say would change anything... change what she had done all those years ago. And that the girl had been spot on; she deserved this. However, the words she’d been desperately trying to say did finally tumble out of her mouth, _…I’m sorry._

Kim did not sleep a wink that night.


	35. Dance on a volcano

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we finally come to a chapter for which I have had the title stuck in my head for weeks now. Normally, I write a chapter and either at the end, or sometimes while I'm in the middle of it, I come up with the title. Occasionally, I have an event in mind for an upcoming chapter and the title comes to me while thinking about it. However, in this one instance, the title of the Genesis song, Dance on a volcano, is the entire reason for the location of Dr Drakken's new lair. At some point, after I first used the dance metaphor for Kim and Shego beating the crap out of one another, I was listening to this song and decided that I had to use the title of it for one of my chapters. And so I came up with Drakken's latest plan based on my desire to do just that. So, without further ado, chapter 35: Dance on a volcano. Enjoy.

Kim Possible had barely slept the previous night. Eventually, she’d awoken at five-thirty, gone out for an hour-long run and then used her Kimmunicator to open the door to the hotel’s gym, so she could beat the living daylights out of its punching bag for an hour; eventually causing it to burst. She had then gone back to her room to shower and dress; today selecting her purple mission outfit. It was while finishing breakfast, that her Kimmunicator had finally beeped.

“Go, Wade,” Kim said darkly, her anger back to bubbling just beneath the surface for now.

“Morning, Kim,” Wade replied, taking a slurp out of a bowl of cereal. The boy was still dressed in his pyjamas. “The simulator ran all night and has finally figured out the most likely weapon Drakken has been building, based on the components that have been stolen.”

“I’m not interested in what he’s building, just where Shego is hiding.”

The computer geek ignored her interjection and continued, “it seems like he’s been building some sort of cannon that shoots bolts of lightning that can arc. If the computer is right, he’ll be able to use it to hit any target he wants, **without** the need for satellites or complex mirror systems.”

“Where is Shego,” Kim demanded impatiently.

Wade gave her a look of concern. “Kim, I’ve just told you that Drakken has built a weapon that can hit any target **in the world** and you only care about finding Shego. What on earth is going on?”

“That’s not your concern, Wade,” she spat. “Now, just tell me where she’s hiding.”

The geek shook his head, “Kim, I really think you need to talk to someone. I thought you were just eager to even the score with her earlier in the week, but this has become obsession. Maybe you should give your mom a phone.”

Kim’s left hand balled into a fist and she slammed it into the table, gaining her shocked looks for everyone at the tables nearby. “Don’t tell me what to do, Wade,” she said viciously. “I don’t need nor want to talk to my mom. Now, tell me where that bitch is!”

“Kim, for your own good, I can’t do that,” Wade began, but she swiftly cut him off.

“If you don’t, who’s going to stop Drakken from using his new toy to take over the world,” she barked, while internally thinking, _how dare he think he knows what’s for my own good. It seems like mom’s got to him far more than I realised._ However, the implications of that, she would have to deal with later.

She glared at the geek through the small Kimmunicator screen and could see the sweat form on his brow as he weighed up his options. He could continue to refuse her and pass the intel on to global justice. However, GJ agents, even highly trained ones, were no match for Shego. While they might eventually take her down due to sheer numbers, a lot of them would probably suffer some serious injuries. Was Wade willing to allow that to happen?

Finally, after what felt like an age, the gearhead let out a sigh of defeat, “ok, Kim, you win. However, I’m only doing this because I don’t want to send a bunch of Global Justice lambs to the slaughter against Shego. And I still think you need to talk to someone about this obsession.”

“Just give me the intel, then shut up and let me deal with it.”

“Based on the data and what Shego said, Drakken is using an active volcano to generate the power needed for his new lightning-ray. And given Drakken’s flair for the dramatic, he’ll have built it in the most dangerous volcano in the US.”

“Mount St Helens,” Kim said as a dark smirk formed on her face. _Now I’ve got you, Bitch!_ “Get me a Halo drop there asap,” she then commanded as she rose from her chair. “Then deal with my hotel checkout and getting the Sloth back to Middleton.”

“I’m on it,” Wade said reluctantly. He then looked her straight in the eyes, “Kim, please be careful and think about talking to your mom, or at least someone, once you’ve stopped Drakken.”

“I know what I’m doing and I don’t need you or my mom telling me otherwise,” she said and then hung up. _And I am certainly not talking to her about any of this._

Storming out of the hotel dining room, she made her way back upstairs to pack her bags. This time, she was going to put this issue with Shego… with her sexuality to bed… once and for all.

##

“YES! SHEGO, I AM A GENIUS!” Dr Drakken declared gleefully, as Shego wandered over to the sofa; two bowls of cereal in her hands.

“Have you been up all night with that thing, Dr D?” she asked, parking her butt in front of the TV and picking up the remote, turned it on. From the pouch on her leg, Ru-Ru popped out and hopped up onto the coffee table. He gleefully rubbed his little paws as she set his bowl of cereal down.

“Of course I have!” Drakken boomed. “Doomsday devices don’t finish themselves while mad scientists sleep, you know.” Now watch this!”

Shego turned her gaze from the TV screen, which was showing the latest episode of Kung-fu Kombat and watched the large rings that surrounded the narrow metal barrel of the weapon light up. “Geez, all that work and you managed to make some fancy lightbulbs,” she said sarcastically.

Ru-Ru lifted his milk-soaked head out of his bowl of cereal to briefly let out an evil little laugh, before diving back in.

“Must you be so sarcastic so early in the morning,” Drakken demanded sharply, before quickly adding, “just keep watching.”

“Check my contract. Sarcasm is not limited to any time window and may be employed whenever I deem it appropriate.”

The rings began to glow brighter and Shego could hear a sound she would normally associate with something powering up. She waited, expecting the thing to blow up, until eventually, much to her surprise, a bolt of lightning arced over a rather tall and precarious stack of books on the bench and hit an apple on the other side; blowing it to smithereens.

“Did you see that!” Drakken declared gleefully as he did a little dance. “The lighting-ray works!”

Shego rolled her eyes as she grudgingly said, “I guess so.” However, a thin smile then formed on her face as her eyes were drawn to the flashing red light on the weapon’s control panel. _Five, four, three, two…_

 **BOOM!** The sound echoed all around the lair as a cloud of smoke billowed from the lightning-ray.

“NO!” Drakken yelled frantically as he darted towards his latest creation.

“Umm, Dr D, you might want to wait…”

“YEOW!” The mad scientist yelled as he once came into view; blowing on his now burnt hands.

“…until it has cooled down,” Shego finished as she shook her head.

“How was I supposed to know it would be that hot?” Drakken barked in her direction.

“Doy, by noticing that the temperature warning light was flashing before the power couplings blew.”

The mad scientist glared at her when he caught sight of the smirk that danced on her lips. “Well, at least I was able to build a lightning-ray! What is your degree useful for?”

“You never even finished yours,” Shego fired back. Taking a pop at her child development degree was a low blow, but to compare it to the robotics degree that he hadn’t completed was just laughable. “In fact, you have no right to even use the title Dr.”

“Just because I never finished that stupid robotics degree, doesn’t mean I didn’t complete a different degree to obtain the title. Besides, it’s not as if some university made Dementor a tenured professor.”

“Actually, they did,” she retorted. “He was professor of spatial physics at Universität Regensburg in Bavaria before he adopted the Dementor moniker.”

Drakken looked infuriated by this revelation, perhaps because once more she had gotten one over on him, or perhaps because he’d discovered that his rival had actually earned the title by which he referred to himself. Either way, he sulked off to deal with the lightning-ray and its blown power conduits. “Yeah, thought as much. You don’t have the staying power to finish a degree, **Mr** D,” Shego said by way of a parting shot.

Drakken stopped dead and turned to glare at her. “You don’t know everything I do in my life!” he yelled, his hands shaking by his sides and steam rising from atop his blue head. “I’ll have you know I…” the mad scientist stopped mid-sentence and clapped his hands over his mouth.

 _Oh, this ought to be good._ Shego turned around to kneel on the sofa and stared directly into his black eyes with a piercing emerald stare. “What have you been getting up to in your spare time, Mr D?”

“That’s none of your business, Shego,” Drakken said quickly, as beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. He then quickly turned away from her.

Like a lioness who had caught a whiff of blood while stalking prey, Shego leapt over the sofa, darted across the short distance between them and then slid in front of her boss. Her gaze bored into his as she repeated, “what have you been getting up to, Mr D?” When Drakken’s lips remained sealed, she ignited one of her hands and smiled wickedly at him. “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.”

The mad scientist trembled under the intensity of her gaze and stuttered, “n…n…now, Shego. Let’s be reasonable about this.”

Her smile widened, “cough up the gossip, Mr D, and no one gets burned.”

Drakken opened his mouth, probably about to spill his guts, unfortunately, a siren sounded overhead.

Both Shego and Drakken’s gazes snapped to the TV, which now displayed a satellite feed of an incoming aircraft. She smiled to herself, _looks like you get a reprieve… for now, Mr D._

“KIM POSSIBLE!” Drakken declared in irritation, apparently reaching the same conclusion she had. “Shego, send out the henchmen. I still need to make the alterations to the lighting-ray to stop it overheating before I can use it.”

“Don’t worry, Mr D, I’ll take care of Kimmie personally.”

Feeling a rush of excitement, Shego darted from the room and towards the elevator that led up to the surface. _I hope you’re ready, Princess, because after today, there will be no going back for you._

##

Clad in her white and blue battle suit, Kim shot through the air like a human missile as she rapidly descended towards Mount St Helens below. She was using the suits retractable hood; a more recent addition, along with a pair of goggles and an improved version of Wade’s breathing apparatus. Shooting through the clouds, the top of the mountain came into view and she pulled the chute. Given the high precision of a Halo jump and the favourable wind conditions, it was child’s play for her to navigate towards the large roof that no doubt would retract to allow Dr Drakken’s new doomsday weapon to fire. Adrenaline, mixed with anger and rage surged through Kim as her feet touched down on the metal surface. However, for once, she did not care one iota for the thrill that came with doing a Halo jump. This was not about fun.

From behind her, Kim could hear the sound of light clapping echo around the mountain top as she unclipped her harness and cast her chute aside. Pulling off her goggles and breathing apparatus, she shoved them into her belt pouch and pressed the button to retract the hood; allowing her long red locks to blow freely in the light breeze. She turned and immediately caught sight of the source of the sound.

“I’ve got to hand to you, Kimmie, you sure know how to make an entrance,” Shego said as her emerald gaze took in the hero. _She’s got her battle suit on, so she means business._

“Shego!” Kim declared, immediately slipping into a guard. _This time, you won’t escape. This time, I’m going to beat the shit out of you and then toss what’s left in a jail cell beside Bonnie._

“Did you get all dressed up, just for little old me?” Shego asked airily as she sauntered down the steps and onto the roof that would serve as their first battleground. _Now to find out whether or not you’re murderous._

“You won’t escape me this time!” Kim asserted firmly, her olive-green eyes carefully watching her opponent’s movements.

It was with a sense of dark irony that the pair stood across from one another, as they had done so many times before. For once the raven-haired villain looked the perfect picture of calm, while the red-haired hero was the keg of gunpowder; one spark away from exploding. Perhaps they served as a perfect example to how a hero could have villainous intent, while the villain had the capacity to do something to help someone other than themselves. Ultimately, the lines between the two had never been greyer.

As they began to circle one another, a thin smile formed on the villainess’ black lips. “It’s not my fault you couldn’t keep up with me, Princess. I guess you must still be slow after I kicked your ass a few weeks ago.”

The comment did exactly as intended and caused the fires of rage to explode inside Kim once more. “I’m done talking with you!” she yelled and darted forwards. Lashing out violently, she fired off a front-snap-kick, which her opponent countered with an outer-forearm-block. The hero quickly rechambered into a turning-kick, followed by a hook-kick when the former too was blocked.

Shego ducked the third kick and swept at her rival’s standing leg with a foot-sweep, but the girl effortlessly sprang up over it. In one fluid motion, she rose upwards and transitioned into a spinning-turning-kick.

Kim blocked the incoming kick with enough force that it sent the green-skinned woman’s leg spiralling down to the ground. With her opponent off balance for a split-second, she fired a downward-side-kick at the knee of her standing leg, with full intent of shattering the joint.

In the nick of time, Shego was able to regain control of her flailing leg and threw herself into a backflip. Her foot clashed with Kimmie’s and took some of the brunt from the kick, but nothing compared to what would have happened to her knee, had the blow been allowed to connect. She landed on both feet, but only had a split second to think, _she’s using limb destructions, not good,_ before having to defend once more.

The second her kick was knocked off course, Kim forced her foot to touch down on the metal roof and sprang forward into a lunging-palm-heel. When the green-skinned woman brought a forearm down to block it, she slammed her other fist forward in an uppercut, catching Shego in the gut. Her rival staggered and she wasted no time in slamming a fore-fist-punch into the woman’s sternum.

Shego fell backwards and landed hard on the roof, however, had to immediately roll out of the way as Kimmie descended with another vicious punch. She heard the clang of the girl’s fist battering into the metal surface echo around her and counted herself fortunate that it had not hit its intended target. Under normal circumstances, she would have expected the hero to have just shattered her knuckles. However, she would wager a tidy sum that her battle suit had dissipated the force of the blow.

Kim straightened up as she turned to locate her opponent, only to come gut to feet with her; Shego having sprung up and forward off the ground with a two-footed attack. The blow knocked her off her feet and she flew backwards and crashed down upon the roof. However, her battle suit had negated much of the impact of both blows and so with a slam of her fist against the metal, she scrambled back onto her feet.

Having also gotten back onto her feet, Shego used the brief break in the fight to turn on her glow, but did not ignite her hands. Kimmie’s battle suite gave her too much of an advantage when it came to damage sustained, so she needed to even the playing field. Her glow could heal any minor injuries she sustained and the adrenaline combined with the state of mind brought on by battle would negate the bulk of the pain.

The pair started circling one another again and given their present mindsets, it was Kim who lashed out again. The hero opened with an axe-kick, which her opponent evaded, which she immediately flicked into a front-snap-kick that was blocked with a forearm.

Shego retaliated with a lunging-backfist that was blocked high, before shooting a reverse punch across her chest, directed at Kimmie’s abdomen, but the hero blocked it low with the same arm. She brought the first hand back around with an inward-knife-hand and when she saw the outer-forearm-block incoming, she twisted her forearm over her opponents and reversed the block; blowing the girl’s left-hand guard open. However, as she flicked her wrist out in a palm-heel, Princess ducked.

Kim evaded the incoming technique and quickly rose with a twin outer forearm strike that blew her rival’s guard wide open and she wasted no time in launching a rising-knee-strike at the green-skinned woman’s upper abdomen. Only her opponent was equal to it and their knees battered together mid-air.

While it may have lasted a mere second or two, for that brief moment, olive-green eyes clashed with emeralds and neither wanted to give ground. Such stalemates were common when they fought and like two musicians who had played with each other for years, they both knew to disengage at the same time. What followed was a lightning-quick exchange of close quarters blows, in which Shego landed a knee strike to her opponent’s ribs and a one-inch-punch to her sternum and Kim caught her opponent on the chin with an elbow and midriff with an uppercut. The whole dual lasted for several minutes before both hero and villain’s arms were locked together.

“So, Kimmie,” Shego said with a smirk, “given anymore thought to the big question?”

“About what I’m going to do once your battered body is thrown in jail?” Kim spat, a look of hard determination on her face. “I thought I might go for a nice relaxing beach holiday,” she finished, deliberately choosing one of her rival’s favourite vacations.

“Maybe I should skip the jail part and go with you,” Shego replied airily. “We could have a lot of fun exploring your newfound sexual preferences.”

“Will you fucking quit it with the stupid gay comments!” Kim yelled and tried to wrench her hands out of the lock, but her rival maintained her hold on them. “I’M **NOT** GAY!” _…I can’t be gay._

“I beg to differ, Princess,” the raven-haired woman managed to reply, but knew her control of the lock was about to give. “How about I prove it to you?”

“FUCK OFF!” the red-haired vixen roared and with a herculean effort, she burst her hands out of the lock.

However, before either woman could so much as think of their next attack, the ground beneath their feet began to shake and a loud rumbling sounded from all around them.

“Looks like Mr D’s just about got his lightning ray ready to rock and roll,” Shego said and quickly backflipped away from the hero.

Despite her rage, Kim did not fail to notice the alteration in the term her rival had referred to Dr Drakken by. “Mr D? What, did the university of numbskullerly decide to rescind his doctorate on account of him being too stupid, even them?” As she spat her question, Kim felt the metal roof begin to move and saw that she and Shego were on opposite sides.

“Well, if you hadn’t interrupted us, I would have found out about that bit of gossip and could have shared. Guess it’ll have to wait until the next time you ask me out for a drink,” Shego replied, deliberately making reference to a piece of evidence that backed up her claim with regards to the hero’s sexuality. She then flashed Kimmie a smile as the distance grew between them, “guess I’ll see you inside for round two.”

Kim grit her teeth and briefly considered jumping the gap between them. However, though she would not admit it she and unbeknownst to her, Shego too, was glad for the momentary reprieve that would allow them to catch their breath. It had been a furious opening round and she was just getting started. “Don’t you dare think of running away again, Shego. I’m not done with you.” _I am going to kick your ass, Bitch!_

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Kimmie.” _Not when I’ve still got to boot you into stage three. You might be angry and some of your techniques deliberate limb destructions, but you’re not quite murderous, at least not yet. I only hope I don’t push you to that point, otherwise your desire to kill me might override your inability to turn down a challenge._

Both hero and villain remained stationary, their gazes locked upon one another as the roof fully retracted. The injuries they had sustained during the first round of their dance had been minor for both parties, with Kim’s mostly negated or compensated for by her battle suit and Shego’s rapidly healing because of her glow. When the roof stopped moving, both individuals finally broke off their stare as they turned their attention to how they were going to work their way down into the lair.

##

Kim glanced around and quickly spied a catwalk to which she could grapple. Wasting no time, she shot the new high-tech grapple line from the right wrist of her battle suit and caught the upper scaffold of the catwalk. She then jumped into the volcano, swung through the air and landed perfectly. Immediately, she could feel the heat rising from the exposed magma below. Within seconds, she found herself with a henchman both in front and behind her; stun sticks at the ready. She allowed them to charge her and the moment they were within striking range, she took to the air and caught both in the face with a jumping-split-kick. As per usual, Dr Drakken had gone with muscle over brains and so they both crashed to the metal gangway with a heavy thud, which caused it to shake. Landing back on her feet, Kim immediately did a backflip with a mid-air twist and caught the first henchman in the face with a punch; not caring whether or not he may already have been KO’d. Without even a pause for breath, she turned and did a double front flip towards the second henchman; who had started to rise. She landed two-footed on his chest and delivered an identical knock-out blow.

Eyes quickly surveying the scene, she found the route down and was unsurprised to see more henchmen lumbering her way. Darting forward, she made for the stairs. _If I’ve got to take out all of Drakken’s henchmen to get back to Shego, then so be it._ Reading the movements of the next goon perfectly, she lunged forward underneath the wild swing of his stun stick and caught him in the gut with a quick fore-fist-punch, reverse-punch combo. The man staggered backwards and she quickly swept his legs out from under him. Rising back to her feet as he fell, Kim caught him in the chin with a downward-palm-heal, hastening his collision with the metal walkway.

Stepping over her felled foe, she made it to the narrow stairs before she encountered the next group of Jack Hench’s bottom of the barrel trash, as they came at her single file. Casting her gaze over the top of them, Kim shot her grapple at an overhanging pipe and soared through the air. With a two-footed-kick, she caught the first henchman in the chest and sent him flying backwards towards the rest. Like a set of dominos, they clattered into one another and tumbled down the stairs. Kim landed back on the catwalk and did not even turn to glance at her handiwork as she broke into a run once more.

By the time the hero reached the main level, she’d had to dispatch another half-dozen goons. Kim glanced around, but could not see any sign of Shego. However, “Drakken!” she declared on catching sight of the mad scientist. He stood with what looked like a control pad for a video game system in his hands and a broad grin on his face.

“You’re too late, Kim Possible!” Dr Drakken declared gleefully as he let out a villainous laugh. “My lighting-ray is complete and soon the world will be mine!”

“I don’t have time for you today, Drakken,” Kim spat, her eyes still darting around for any sign of her rival. “Where’s Shego?”

The blue-skinned man looked at her in confusion, “say what?”

“Where’s Shego!” she barked, feeling her anger start to bubble once more.

“But I’ve just built a lightning-ray that will allow me to hit any target…”

“Any target on the planet, without the need for complex satellite or mirror systems, yeah yeah, blah blah, don’t care,” Kim cut in as her olive-green eyes locked onto the mad scientist’s black ones, her gaze hardening. “Where’s Shego?”

“What!” Drakken declared incredulously. “Aren’t you going to try and stop me? Leap in with that infuriating Kim Possible style of yours and foil my plan?”

It seemed to Kim that Drakken just did not get it. “I don’t care about your stupid lighting-ray!” she fired back. Her eyes returned to scanning the lair. “Shego, get your green ass out here!”

“But… but…” Drakken stammered as he shook his head in sheer disbelief, “it’s no fun if you don’t try and stop me. And what will that prove if I take over the world without beating Kim Possible in the process. All the other villains will do is just constantly remind me that I did it the easy way. In fact, they’d probably consider it cheating.”

“Yeah, don’t really care about your egotistical dilemma.” Kim turned away from Drakken and began to scan the other side of the lair. “Besides, you’ll just end up blowing up your stupid lightning-ray when you go to fire it anyway, so what’s the point.”

With her gaze averted, Kim did not see the furry mount on Dr Drakken’s blue face as his features twisted in rage. “I’ll show you how to blow something up!” he yelled.

A noise that she would normally attribute to something powering up sounded and the hero turned just in time to see the large white rings around a long, thin silver barrel light up. _Oh, crap!_ She dived just in the nick of time as a bolt of lightning shot out of the weapon and caused a small explosion where she had been stood milliseconds prior. _Ok, so he didn’t blow it up on the first shot._ Kim’s gaze locked onto Drakken and she darted towards him, however, the rings around the weapon quickly turned white again and she had to throw herself out of the way of the second blast. Unable to control her landing, she hit the ground hard and had to force herself to roll.

Dr Drakken let out a maniacal laugh, “that’s what you get for ignoring me, Kim Possible. Now witness the destructive power of my lightning-ray!”

Kim had barely picked herself up off the ground before she had to do a double backflip to avoid the third blast. _I need some cover while I come up with a plan and fast._ Her gaze darted around the room and she ran towards a stack of wooden crates, having to go into another dive to safely make it behind them. _Ok, Kim, think…_

“HA! Hiding won’t do you any good, Kim Possible,” Drakken cried out, sounding as though he was getting far too over-excited. “My lighting-ray by its very design can **arc**! Allowing it to hit…”

 _Any target without the need for… SHIT!_ Kim had to throw herself forward to avoid the bolt of lightning that, as the mad scientist had just declared, arced over the top of the crates and struck the spot where she had just been crouched. _FUCK! I’m in serious trouble this time. What the hell am I going to do…_

##

Having been on the far side of the roof and unfortunately, the complete opposite side from the gantry that led to it, Shego had been forced to get creative in order to work her way back inside. Using a combination of pipework and the craggy inside wall, she had finally made it down onto the main level after several minutes of careful navigation; with a drop into the exposed magma serving as the perfect motivator for her not to screw up. She might be fire and heat resistant, owing to her glow power, however, she had no desire to test its effectiveness with a dip inside a bubbling cauldron of lava.

It was while making her way through the enormous turbines that were generating the ridiculous wattage required for the lightning-ray that she heard the first explosion. _Guess Kimmie found Drakken. I suppose it’s best if she gets on with foiling his plan now. That way we won’t be interrupted when we get to the important bit. However, I might need to render Mr D unconscious if Princess doesn’t take care of him in the process of blowing the stupid lightning-ray of his up… so long as she doesn’t cause the whole place to blow._ When she heard the following two explosions, she picked up the pace.

The more explosions sounded, the more Shego increased her speed. _Is it possible that Drakken actually has her pinned down with that damn thing?_ As she rounded the corner, she quickly saw that her theory was true. A jubilant Drakken stood with the controls to the lightning-ray in his hands, as he sent bolt after bolt hurtling at the hero, who it seemed was struggling to avoid them, let alone actually close in and destroy the damn thing. _What the hell have I told him about trying to finish her off!_

Shego stormed towards the mad scientist, her expression livid. “How many times do I have to tell you, you don’t get to use Kimmie for target practice!”

Drakken turned and glared at her. “Nice of you to finally show up, Shego,” he admonished. “Did you know that infuriating hero was more interested in finding you than stopping my greatest plan? It’s insulting!”

“Yeah, well no wonder, you’re **so** boring!” Shego retorted. She watched him over-exuberantly press the fire button and bolt of lightning arced out of the weapon. “And will you stop that already, Kimmie’s mine!”

“I certainly will not! You’ve had your chances to vaporize her, dozens of times and you’ve failed. Now it’s my turn!” Drakken declared hotly, however, his attention was now fully focused on her.

The moment Kim saw the mad scientist avert his gaze, she darted towards him at lightning speed. _Got you now!_

Out of the corner of her eye, Shego saw Princess sprint towards them. She then glared at Dr Drakken. “No one finishes Kimmie but me!” In a flash, she kicked the control pad out of the mad scientist’s hands and sent him stumbling backwards.

“Shego! How dare yo…” the blue-skinned man stopped abruptly and turned his head, possibly because he had just heard the sound of hurried footsteps, and his jaw hit the floor.

Kim flew through the air, foot outstretched in a flying-side-kick. She hit Dr Drakken square in the chest with superhuman force and sent him careening through the air.

“AHHHH!” Drakken yelled as he flew backwards and crashed into his beloved lightning ray. Upon impact, the doomsday weapon broke free of its mounting and collided horribly with the floor; its main body promptly exploding.

And so ended yet another of Dr Drakken’s plans to take over the world. However, for Kim and Shego, they had far bigger fish to fry…


	36. Out of the frying pan and into the fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, here we are, chapter 5 of 5. I hope you guys are all still with me and have been enjoying this mammoth update. I won't say anything else right now, except that the title, Out of the frying pan and into the fire, is a track on Meatloaf's sensational Bat out of hell II album; my personal favourite of his. I'll see you all at the end; enjoy.

When the cloud of smoke cleared from around the ex-lightning-ray and the now unconscious form of Dr Drakken, Kim and Shego turned their gazes upon one another once more. Piercing emerald eyes met uncharacteristically angry olive-greens and for a few heartbeats neither said a word.

It was Shego who finally broke the silence, “so, ready to pick up where we left of, Kimmie?” She flashed the hero a knowing smile and a wink. _I hope you’re ready Princess, cos this is about to rock you to your core._

Kim’s fists clenched and she grit her teeth. “I’m going to beat the crap out of you and send what’s left to jail,” she hissed, feeling her anger towards the green-skinned woman, which had ebbed somewhat due to her attention having been distracted by Drakken, start to rise once more. _I’m going to kick her ass!_

Shego cast her gaze around the room and at the henchmen that had started to draw near. “All of you!” she barked, causing each and every one of them to freeze. “Take your beat up and broken bodies, along with those of your unconscious comrades and get the hell out.”

“Do we still get…” one of them ventured but was swiftly cut off.

“NOW!”

Kim watched as the collective henchmen scampered away from them and proceeded up the stairs towards the catwalk by which she had entered; collecting those she had KO’d as they went. She then turned her gaze back to her rival. “What, don’t want the lackeys to see you get your ass kicked?”

In a serious voice, Shego replied, “doing this for your benefit, Kimmie, not mine.” Her eyes quickly glanced at Drakken, just to make sure he was unlikely to wake up in the middle of their next dance. Given the state he was in this time, it did not seem likely. She then waited for the last of the henchmen to vacate the premises before saying, “so, where were we?”

“I was kicking your ass,” Kim declared sharply, her enraged ego neglecting the fact that it had been an even fight up on the roof.

“And I was about to prove to you that you’re gay.” The words barely escaped from Shego’s mouth before Kimmie let out a vicious roar.

“SHUT UP!” the hero bellowed, her anger exploded once more. She immediately charged her opponent, launching into a hammer-fist, spinning-back-fist, uppercut combo, before finishing up with twin-knife-hands aimed at the green-skinned woman’s neck.

Shego blocked the first three techniques and then countered the final attack with a twin-outer-forearm-block and immediately sent a front snap kick straight through and into her rival’s gut.

You could do a lot with anger, use it as a fuel with which to power your blows or as a substitute for adrenaline. However, it had to be used with caution. Give it too much rope and you could easily hang yourself with it. Your movements becoming dictated by it, making them rash… sloppy. This was exactly what had just happened to Kim and Shego knew it. For she had been there herself on multiple occasions.

Kim staggered backwards, slightly winded but nowhere near as injured as she would have been had she not been wearing her battle suit. Her normally pleasant features were twisted by an ugly rage and her bright olive-green eyes, normally so warm, held a terrifying fury. _I’m going to beat the shit out of her!_

“The first indication you gave me, Kimmie, was when you asked what I’d say if you asked me out on a date,” Shego said lightly, trying not to sound morosely serious but also keeping the sass in her tone to a minimum. She also elected not to use the G-word, as it seemed to be too much of a trigger for the hero. _Her anger is going to increase regardless, but I need to keep her from reaching murderous level._

“I only said that,” Kim began as she darted forward once more, “because you caught me on a bad night,” she threw a vicious turning-kick, but it sailed over the top of her opponent’s head, so she seamlessly transitioned into a reverse-turning-kick. The green-skinned woman evaded it and Kim finished, “and because I was stupidly desperate to fight you again,” as she lashed out with an axe-kick. “But you already knew that. That’s why you made that stupid comment in the first place, to try and get inside my,” she fired off a side-kick, using the word, “head!” as her Kihap.

Shego expertly did a double-backstep to give herself enough time to reply, “sorry, Kimmie, but like you, I got caught up in the moment too that night. No head games at work.” _However, I am totally in your head._ “That response was all on you.” She had no time to continue as the red-haired vixen was quickly upon her again and she had to block a series of side-kicks, aimed low-high-low. Another turning kick was then fired at her head and she ducked, only for Kimmie to bring her leg back at lightning speed in a diagonal hook-kick. The blow caught her in the shoulder and had enough force to send her crashing to the floor.

Kim descended through the air with a fore-fist-punch, but it smashed into the metal floor as her rival quickly rolled out of the way. Fortunately, her battle suit took the brunt of the impact and spared her knuckles from shattering. She straightened up, this time, unlike when they were on the roof, bringing her guard around to defend against the possibility of the green-skinned woman lunging at her with her feet. However, her gaze soon discovered that her rival had taken the opportunity to backflip away from her. “FIGHT BACK!” she roared in irritation at the woman’s continual defensive tactics.

Shego rotated her shoulder and counted herself fortunate not to have dislocated it, or worse. It hurt, but with the adrenaline flowing through her body, most of the pain was kept at bay. And her glow, still active from round one on the roof, would heal the damage soon enough. “The next clue you cave me was when you asked me out for that drink. You had me convinced it was supposed to be a date, as people don’t normally invite a friend out for a drink like that.”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Kim bellowed. “I asked you out for that stupid drink because I wanted to be **friends** with you and you told me to go fuck myself!” She charged once more, this time taking to the air to rattle off her four front-snap-kick combo. Her opponent managed to block the kicks, but the last one blew a hole in her guard. As she descended, Kim threw a fore-fist-punch into the gap; aiming for the face, but the raven-haired woman somehow got her other hand across to deflect it.

“I know,” Shego replied, before having to block a string of knife-hands, “and I’m sorry.” Over the course of the past few weeks and under the continued suggestion from Miss Go, she’d felt her anger at Kimmie over the whole non-date incident ebb to the point that she now genuinely felt sorry for her part in how it had gone south.

The words, spoken so sincerely, cut through Kim’s rage long enough for her to pause and say in disbelief, “what?” It was inconceivable that her rival could be apologising to her.

While a highly oxymoronic thing to do, Shego knew she needed more time than this brief pause would allow and so with her opponent momentarily stunned, her hands shot out and grabbed the front of Kimmie’s battle suit. With a herculean effort, she hurled the hero as far as she could across the room.

 _What the fuck!_ The thought formed in Kim’s mind as she flew through the air and then crash-landed on the hard metal floor. “Oww,” she groaned upon impact and lay there severely winded. Again, she was fortunate to be wearing her battle suit, otherwise, she probably would have just sustained another set of broken ribs. “Why the hell did you do that?” While on the surface the question sounded stupid, for they were in the middle of a fight, her rival’s actions jarred with how sincere her words had just sounded.

“Sorry, Kimmie, but needs must,” Shego replied, again keeping the sass from her tone. “So, are you going to deny that you were checking me out when I arrived in Spritzers?”

“I was simply not used to seeing you in normal clothes!” Kim replied exasperatedly, peddling the same lie she had sold herself over the past few weeks when she thought about that particular moment. Slowly she brought herself up onto her knees. Had her rival chosen to advance on her, she would undoubtedly have already sprung to her feet. However, she was grateful for the extra moments to properly catch her breath. _Why the hell am I even entertaining her? I’ve already dealt with this crap. I should be kicking her ass instead!_

“Bullshit, Kimmie, and you know it,” Shego replied, slightly harsher than she had intended. She made a mental note to try and watch her tone. _Now I’ve got her talking, sending her straight back to throwing punches will be exceptionally counterproductive._ “How about all those flirty looks you kept giving me? Or some of those remarks you made, such as, ‘you always knew how to tempt me’? What’s your excuse for those?”

“I was trying to be friendly towards you!” Kim exclaimed as she got to her feet. “I just wanted to be your **friend** , that’s all,” she added firmly, but there was a hint of desperation about her tone.

While she did not raise her guard, Shego prepared to do so, as she knew her next point would be liable to enrage the hero once more. Electing to skip over the pièce de résistance for now, she fast-forward one week to their next, albeit brief, social encounter. “So, how do you justify that shit-show in Heartbeats to yourself?”

Kim’s fists clenched and she grit her teeth as flashes of her evening with Matt played in her mind. “You ruined the first kiss I’ve had with a boy since I broke up with Ron!” she spat, her anger rising once more and allowing her to hone in on her opponent's role in events and exclude the feelings of awkwardness… of wrongness she had experienced.

“Maybe, or perhaps I gave you a way out of a situation that made you feel incredibly awkward,” Shego paused for a moment and added weight to her tone before finishing, “that felt wrong.”

Hearing the green-skinned woman so plainly and perfectly hit upon the feelings that she had felt that night, caused Kim to snap. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” she bellowed.

Shego did not flinch as she soaked up her rival’s latest verbal attack and prepared herself.

Kim charged full pelt at her opponent and screamed as she let off a barrage of hand techniques, “I’M **NOT** GAY!” however, the desperation was now palpable in her voice.

Shego could hear in the hero’s voice how desperately she wanted her own words to be true. How much she needed to believe in what her parents, friends, schooling and society had instilled in her. And she immediately felt a large dollop of pity for her. _I was her once and I know exactly how difficult this process is, especially for people as stubborn as we are._ She had to quickly fire off block after block as the girl relentlessly threw anger fuelled technique after anger fuelled technique at her. _And I’m sorry, Kimmie, but this is probably going to hurt… a lot._

Kim saw nothing but red as she continued her brutal assault. _I have to beat her!_ Knife-hand, backfist, fore-fist-punch. _I have to smash her to a pulp!_ Uppercut, fore-fist-punch, reverse-punch. _Then I can finally excise her from my head and put an end to this stupid sexuality thing!_ Palm-heal, palm-heal, BAM! She finally broke through Shego’s stubborn defence with a rapid-fire series of rolling punches. The green-skinned woman staggered backwards and Kim took full advantage of the situation and shot a vicious side-kick straight into her abdomen.

Shego flew through the air and could do nothing to exert any sort of control over her landing. With a loud thud, she hit the metal floor and rolled several feet before she finally came to a stop. “Fuhk!” she spluttered as she broke into a coughing fit. Forcing herself onto her knees, she gasped for breath, fully aware that Kimmie was advancing upon her. _Great, that’s probably a rib or two broken. Guess there’s only one thing for it,_ she decided as she struggled to regulate her breathing. Her abdomen hurt like hell and she knew it was only going to get worse when her glow kicked in to heal the damage. However, she would need to grin and bear it.

Kim stalked forward like a woman possessed, her gaze unblinking and fixed upon her target. A foreign desire to cause serious bodily harm now coursing through her. Shego was her enemy and the cause of all her problems. It was Shego who had broken her ribs, Shego who had ruined her night with Matt and Shego who had gotten inside her head and started this whole stupid argument over her sexuality. “I LIKE BOY’S!” She bellowed. “DO YOU HEAR ME, SHEGO. I LIKE BOYS!”

Seconds before Kimmie lashed out at her with another kick to her gut, Shego sprang to her feet, hands wreathed in green plasma and fired a wide continuous burst at the ground between them. Flames rose up several feet, through which she stared at the girl. While normally the hero would be quick to figure out a way to circumvent such a move, in her single-minded state, it would be enough of a barrier to force her to pause. “Don’t you hear it in your own voice, Kimmie? The desperation… the doubt?” Shego asked, her tone sympathetic now.

“NO! Kim fired back, “BECAUSE I’M **NOT** GAY!” She took a step forward but stopped when she felt the intense heat coming from the continued plasma blast. Her battle suit was good and could defend against a lot of things, but the green-skinned woman’s plasma heated claws had sliced through it like it were tissue paper the night of her junior prom and she knew it would not protect her from such an attack.

With her opponent currently held at bay, Shego initiated her play for the jugular. “Then answer me this, Kimmie,” she said, her voice now serious, “when I kissed you yesterday and back in spritzers, the sensation you felt, have you ever felt that before?”

Kim opened her mouth to respond but words failed to materialise. While she could not bring herself to say no, saying yes would be a complete and utter lie and one she could not even convince herself of. That feeling, like she’d had a pole shoved up her backside and hooked up to the mains, she had never experienced it before… ever. Against her will the thought, _what the hell was that?_ Slipped into her mind.

Shego did not need to hear the silence to know that the answer to her question was a firm no. Maintaining the wall of plasma between them, she then pressed the hero further, “I know it’s difficult to admit, Kimmie, trust me, I was you once. I’ve been where you’re currently at and know exactly what you’re going through. All the anger and the refusal to accept the truth. However, you need to know that there is absolutely no shame in being gay.”

“I know that, but I’m **NOT**!” Kim fired back, the memories of the two occasions on which Shego had kissed her now running rampant through her mind and trudging up everything related to all of the green-skinned woman’s other points. And she was struggling to maintain a defence against them… _I can’t be._

“But how would you even know?” Shego asked. “You’ve never even kissed a girl before.”

“I haven’t kissed a girl because I’m **NOT** gay!” the hero replied, her mind now starting to search for a way around the fire wall.

 _Ok, Kimmie, here goes nothing. If you don’t take the bait then I’m fucked as I can’t generate this much plasma for much longer._ “Then why don’t you prove it,” Shego replied quickly. Everything hinged on this. If Princess’ anger at her was too great, her desire to hurt her would probably override her inability to turn down the challenge.

“What?” Kim exclaimed in disbelief, her attention fully focusing on her rival once more. 

“Prove that you’re not gay,” the green-skinned woman reiterated. “Kiss a girl and if you feel nothing, then you’ll know.”

“Why on earth would I do that?” Kim said, her voice a mix of shock and horror at the suggestion.

“Because it’ll put an end to all the fighting that’s going on inside your head,” Shego replied. _At least it will eventually. It’ll hurl you out of anger and down the path to acceptance._ “Besides, what have you got to lose? If you’re so certain that you’re straight, then it won’t be a problem for you. After all, you are the girl who can do anything, or are you too afraid of taking up the challenge?” _Ok, Kimmie, be a good girl and take the challenge, otherwise I’m screwed._

Kim felt a bubble of anger burst inside her at what her rival had just insinuated. If she had been thinking straight, she would have noticed the trap and maybe, just maybe, been able to walk away from the latest gauntlet that had just been thrown at her feet by her rival. Unfortunately, _I’m not afraid. I’m Kim Possible, I can do anything! I can meet any challenge you can throw at me, Shego!_ “Fine!” she fired back, “maybe I will. Then you can shut the fuck up about it and stop trying to mess with my head.”

 _Got you!_ Shego allowed her plasma to dissipate and within a few seconds, the wall of green flame that had separated them had vanished. However, she had to force herself not to stagger. _I can’t falter now, not when she’s so close._ “Good, then let’s go.”

“What?” Kim blurted out, having been blissfully unaware of what her rival had actually been suggesting.

Shego gave the hero a thin smile as she said, “you, me, right here, right now.”

Kim felt her cheeks turn scarlet upon hearing the woman’s words. “I’m not kissing you!” she exclaimed, her voice betraying more than a little bit of the panic that she felt at the suggestion.

“Why not? I’m gay and we both know you find me attractive. Plus, I’m not taking your word for it after you claim to have gone out and kissed some random.”

Kim’s mouth fell open and she backed away slightly as Shego advanced. “No, way,” she blurted out in alarm on seeing the slight predatory look in the raven-haired woman’s eyes.

“What’s the matter, Kimmie, are you scared of little old me?” Shego mocked as her smile widened and became sassy. She then added the only thing that ultimately mattered, “besides, we both know you can’t resist the challenge.”

“There’s no way I’m scared of you!” Kim fired back, her resolve immediately hardening on hearing the suggestion. “Fine. I’ll kiss you **if** you shut the hell up about this shit afterwards.”

“Only if the words you utter match how your body reacts,” Shego replied. It was at that moment, on realising that she was about to properly kiss Kimmie for the first time, that she felt a flutter inside her stomach and the desire she had tried to quell since their disastrous non-date in Spritzers, ignite inside her. She then added, “and it needs to be a proper kiss. Thirty seconds minimum and with tongues; no half measures.” 

Kim could not believe that she was even contemplating this; let alone actually about to do it. Inside her head, she could hear the booming voice of the Barkin-dragon yelling, _“what the hell are you doing, Possible. Stop this at once!”_ However, her inability to walk away from a challenge set down by her rival, the fatal flaw with her ego needing to prove that she was not scared and the small voice that had continually said, _“but what if…”_ over the past few weeks, compelled her to continue.

The two women stared into each other’s eyes, piercing emeralds locking onto fury-filled olive-greens, as their bodies were hypnotically drawn towards one another. The moment she was within reach, Shego reached out and wrapped an arm around Kimmie’s waist. She immediately felt the red-haired vixen try to pull away from her, but her grip remained strong. “So you don’t try to back out, Princess,” she said, as she took a breath to try and steady herself, catching a whiff of the girl’s cherry and almond shampoo. Her heart rate quickly kicked up a notch.

While her instant action had been to recoil, Kim could not help but feel a sense of security within Shego’s half embrace. Their heads were merely a foot apart and she could feel a cauldron of panic, fear and dread, mixed with something that she had a bad feeling was desire, brew inside her. _Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!_ Her hands then found themselves drawn to the green-skinned woman’s waist and her nose began to drown in the scent of mint and eucalyptus.

 _Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! I’m actually about to kiss Kim Possible!_ The thought exploded through Shego’s mind and she could feel the desire, the lust, start to pour over her.

The two women’s lips inched towards one another. The second pretty pinks touched thin blacks both parties felt a small, giddy spark strike up inside them. As she was the instigator, Shego automatically took control and opened her mouth slightly. Kim responded immediately, unable to comprehend the feelings that were rising inside her and her resolve began to cave to her body’s desires. The green-skinned woman then slipped her tongue into the red-harried vixen’s mouth and gently coaxed the hero’s out to play. Like two flames, the women’s tongues danced with one another, as they pushed each other back and forth between their respective homes. For Shego, this was the final realisation of something she had tried to deny for weeks; that she **liked** her rival and she could not deny the green fires of lust and desire that now burned brightly within her. And for Kim, this was a complete revelation. Instead of the awkwardness and wrongness she had felt when kissing Matt or Ron, this felt comfortable… right. Only when they were both out of breath did Kim and Shego break off the kiss.

It was a ragged breath that Shego drew in when their lips parted. _Oh, holy crap. That was…_ she was unsure how to even finish that sentence. Her brain completely torn over what she had just experienced. On one side, she knew this was wrong, that she was a villain and Kimmie a hero. Add to that the pressure from her Shego persona that this was not something she could do and she felt the urge to run. However, on the other side, she could not deny how right that had felt, the desire that had exploded inside her… the need to have Kimmie in every way she could. And this was bolstered by her recent decision to try and let herself live the way she wanted to.

Kim too was in crisis. Never before had she experienced something like that. The feelings of lust and desire that the kiss had aroused within her were utterly foreign and they terrified and excited her in equal measure. In the back of her head, she could hear the echo of the Barkin-dragon yell at her that she liked boys and part of her still desperately clung to it. Clung to the truths that had been instilled in her by parents, friends, school and society and made her want to run away and bury the moment deep inside her mind. Except now there was something else; a feeling that she had found something she was unaware she had been searching for. And it felt so right.

Kim and Shego’s eyes met once more and the desire they each saw in the other's gaze overrode all feelings that told them to run. Like two moths drawn to the brightest of flames, their lips came together once more. A jolt, akin to an electric shock, shot through both women and their arms instantaneously wrapped around the other. Lips and tongues moving at lightning speed, Kim and Shego passionately kissed, their bodies now in full control of the situation; brains relegated to a seat in the stands.

Shego tightened her grip around Kimmie’s waist as she snaked her other hand up the hero’s back and through her fiery-red locks until she cupped the back of her head. Unlike her rival, she had experienced such passion before, but any comparison with how it had felt when she had been with Danni would have to wait until later. For now, the only thing that mattered was Kimmie.

Kim ran her hands all over Shego’s back before firmly gripping the woman’s shoulders. The passion that she felt at this moment in time was completely new to her and the only thoughts she could conjure pertained to a want… no, a need to delve deeper into this ocean of desire that she had never before known had existed.

Bodies now pressed firmly against one another, the hero and villain deepened their kiss, fuelled by a mutual need to hurtle themselves down this newfound rabbit hole in their relationship. For them, it was like time had stopped and nothing else around them mattered. They could have been anywhere and it would not have changed anything. Except they were inside a villain’s lair. A villain’s lair, built inside an active volcano and with a doomsday weapon that had used the heat from the bubbling magma to generate the enormous power it required to fire. And that doomsday weapon, now a broken and twisted hunk, was still trying to draw ever-increasing amounts of energy from the massive generators that powered it. Unfortunately, so lost in their own little world, neither Kim nor Shego paid any heed to the warning lights that were now flashing on every control console. And like the passion between them, something was about to explode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH HOLY FUCKING CRAP, THEY ACTUALLY KISSED! 
> 
> I mean... yes, so, Kim and Shego shared there first kiss, no big, right? Lol, who am I kidding, it is SO the drama! Especially given that it has taken me 36 chapters to get to this point. So, once we all cool off after the KiGo fanboys and fangirls inside us just exploded, let's talk. 
> 
> Everyone ready... no? Ok, let's take another minute or two...
> 
> Several minutes later... Right, so, Kim and Shego just shared their first kiss... inside one of Drakken's lairs with something about to explode nearby. I can't tell you what a relief it has been to actually get to this point. I've had it as my goal ever since I drew up a rough plan after writing chapter 4. However, the story kept evolving and expanding into different areas, that I was beginning to worry I'd never get here. As I said to one of you recently, the plan I drew up back then pretty much got flung out the window a good while back. While the goal did not change, the route by which both Kim and Shego got to it and the mindsets of both characters have turned out completely different. Initially, they were both meant to simply be angry at each other after their second night in Spritzers, clash a couple of times over the next week to cause their anger to build, have a massive blowout in the volcano lair, combine to destroy Drakken's doomsday weapon because he aggravated them and then argue to the point that Shego challenged Kim to kiss her. If I had stuck with this plan, I probably would have reached this point about chapter 20 at the latest. So, yeah, I took a massive detour, but personally, I think the story is so much better for it. I love how both characters have developed and that I was able to buck the normal trend where it is Shego who is the angry one of the pair. 
> 
> Where does that leave us moving forward? Well, the next update will focus on the aftermath of the last two chapters. However, you now have every single chapter that I have written; there is nothing and I mean nothing of the next update written. So, I don't want to put a timescale on when it will be ready as I think I've got four chapters worth to write. Beyond that... I don't want to speculate. Let's cross that bridge after the next update.
> 
> Thank you all for sticking with me up till now and I really do hope you have all enjoyed this update and it has been worth the long wait. And I can't wait to see you all soon for the next part of And You And I. Thanks again for all of your support and I'll see you all then.
> 
> Warmest regards  
> The still KiGo-gasming author, Niaxi
> 
> P.S. For anyone who is wondering, I stole my intro to this update from Pink Floyd's The Wall live album.


	37. Girl meets girl and watch it explode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, welcome back everyone, I can't believe that it's been over two weeks since I last posted an update and I am so sorry for the delay. However, not only did real life catch up with me last week and severely reduce my writing time, but each chapter of this update presented its own slew of challenges and was thus quite difficult to write.
> 
> Before we begin, I cannot thank all of you enough for the phenomenal reaction to the last update. I am really humbled that so many of you left me a comment and that you all really seemed to enjoy it. I thoroughly enjoyed it too. 
> 
> This time around I have four chapters for you, however, if you are reading this day one or two, you will probably only see three. That's because I want to tinker with one or two things in the final chapter, but feel that this update has been far too long in coming. Especially given where we left off the last time (I know, Kim and Shego so totally kissed!). So, if you are one of the first to read it, please enjoy the first three chapters and check back soon for the fourth.
> 
> So, first off, we have Girl meets girl and watch it explode. The title for this one is a slightly altered lyric from the Meatloaf song, Where the rubber meets the road. I simply kicked out the word boy and replaced it with a second girl, as I can't see either Kim or Shego taking too kindly to being referred to as a dude, lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Wrapped in each other’s embrace, Kim and Shego’s tongues were working overtime as they furiously battled for dominance over the kiss. Hands ran through hair, across shoulders and down backs, as they pressed their bodies closer together. Neither capable of any thought that might suggest to them that what they were doing was wrong. For it just felt so…

 **BOOM!** The sound of the explosion tore the air asunder and the resultant force blasted the hero and villain off their collective feet and sent them flying across the room before either was even aware of what had just hit them. Almost instantaneously, both their grips failed and the pair were torn apart by the sheer strength of the blast. Seconds later, Kim and Shego simultaneously hit the deck.

 _BASTARD!_ Shego cursed internally upon impact, a film of water forming across her eyes as pain shot through her side. That was probably another rib broken. It took a few moments before she was able to glance up and see the hazy outline of smoke and bright orange flames. She quickly raised a hand to rub her eyes and then saw that both of the generators that powered the lightning-ray had just blown. _OH, SHIT!_

 _FUCK!_ Like her counterpart, Kim hit the metal floor and grimaced at the pain brought about from the impact. However, for the umpteenth time that day, her battle suit had mitigated the bulk of the damage. When this was all over, she’d be sore but have nowhere near the injuries she had sustained after her hour-long dual with Shego three weeks ago. Picking her head up, her eyes were immediately drawn to the thick cloud of smoke and the intense flames that were quickly consuming what she could only assume had been the power generator for Drakken’s lightning-ray. _OH, CRAP!_

Despite the protests from her tired and bruised body, Shego managed to pick herself up. A quick glance to her right showed Kimmie doing the same. With all thoughts of what had just happened between them temporarily blown out of her mind, she simply uttered, “time to go,” before her gaze located the heap that was Dr Drakken.

For Kim too, the situation had suspended all thoughts about what she had just done and instinct rapidly took over. _I need to get out of here._ Indeed, she only gave a quick nod of agreement, which her rival did not see, and replied, “agreed,” before her gaze started scanning for an exit. It did not take her long to figure out that the way in was also her best way out. Unfortunately, her battle suit’s grapple system did not have enough reach to take her directly out of the volcano, so she would be forced to do it in stages. She was about to make a run for the steps that led up to the catwalk when a second explosion sounded.

The entire floor of the volcano lair violently shook as the sound of creaking metal tore through the air. A moment later and both Kim and Shego saw a large section of the floor rip itself away, as one of the large generators conformed to the will of gravity and quickly took itself and almost everything that surrounded it down into the lava below. Both women could only stare as they heard the loud plop the comes when something solid hits a liquid and then watch as dollops of molten lava rose up into the air, some of which landed on and instantly melted more of the floor upon which they were stood.

“SHIT!” the pair exclaimed in unison as they simultaneously broke into a run.

Shego had to dodge falling debris as she sprinted over to where Dr Drakken lay. “WAKE UP,” she yelled and unceremoniously slapped the mad scientist across his blue face. The man grumbled groggily but did not rouse quickly enough for her. Grabbing Drakken around the waist, Shego hoisted him up onto her shoulder and made a b-line for the landing pad on which the hovercraft was parked. Only for a large section of the catwalk to crash down in front of her, blocking her path. The resultant impact caused another loud creak to sound and moments later another massive section of the floor tore itself away and fell into the lava.

“Fuck,” Shego cursed, quickly realising that, even if she could blast the twisted remains of the catwalk out of her way, she had no viable route to the hovercraft. Given that she was hampered by the dead weight that was Dr Drakken, she only had one alternative.

Moving as quickly as she could, Shego had to continually dodge falling rock and metal en-route to the elevator that would take her to the surface. _Next time he decides to build a lair somewhere so stupid, I’ll kill him._ A large chunk of metal landed barely a foot in front of her, forcing her to momentarily stop. Skirting around it, she set off once more.

“Sh… Shego?” the voice of Dr Drakken said groggily, “what’s… what’s going on?”

“The stupid generators for your stupid lightning-ray blew and now the whole damn lair is tearing itself apart,” she spat.

Shego felt Drakken raise his head, moments before he cried out, “ARGH! GET US OUT OF HERE!”

“What do you think I’m trying to do?” she yelled in infuriation, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Reaching the elevator, she jabbed the button and had to wait far too long for the doors to open. When eventually they did, she dumped Drakken inside and turned to hit the button that would take them up and out. In front of her, the doors began to judder shut, but not before her gaze fell upon the large TV opposite and scrambling over the top of the sofa…

##

As she darted for the stairs up to the catwalk, Kim quickly hit the button on her Kimmunicator for Wade. As soon as the boy’s face appeared on the small screen, she quickly said, “Wade, Mount St Helens could be about to blow. I need you to call the emergency services and have them evacuate anyone who might be in the vicinity, ASAP!”

“Help’s on the way, Kim,” the tech guru replied with a few clicks of his keys. “What the hell happened in there?”

“I don’t have time to explain. Just do anything you can to try and warn people to get as far away from here as they can.”

“On it, Kim. And please be careful. The battle suit isn’t designed to handle a brush with lava.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” She ended the transmission and was just about to fire her grapple up at the catwalk when a massive L-shaped section tore itself free from the wall and crashed down onto the metal floor. “SHIT!” she cursed, as her eyes quickly scanned the disintegrating lair for an alternative. Except there wasn’t one. With the entire gantry now severely unstable, she could not risk grappling onto it. Which meant she would have to use the stairs to reach the height required to grapple out of the open roof.

Increasing her speed, Kim reached the metal stairs and began ascending them two at a time. Heart pounding and adrenaline coursing through her body, she had to climb higher than she would have dared had there been any other choice. Gantry creaking viciously below her, Kim knew she was out of time. Raising her right arm, she shot the grapple cable towards the edge of the roof. It caught first time and no sooner had her feet left the metal of the gantry; the whole thing crumpled down to the floor below. Soaring through a thick cloud of smoke, she rocketed upwards until her hands caught the edge of the roof. With difficulty, she managed to pull herself up and out of the volcano lair. Only she was not home and dry yet. Scrambling forward, Kim hurriedly made her way off of the roof and onto the relatively safe rock of the mountain top. Except she could not stop. On the off chance that the volcano had a proper eruption, she needed to get as far away from it as she could and hope Wade managed to get some form of transport to her or it might not matter. Not slowing her pace, Kim made her way to the edge of the mountain.

##

“RU-RU!” Shego yelled, having completely forgotten about the naked-mole-shark.

With only a split second to make a decision, she darted through the gap in the elevator doors and broke into a sprint. To her right, she heard the groan of crumpling metal, followed by a loud crash as the remainder of the gantry disintegrated. Picking her way between hunks of metal, broken machinery and sparking electrical cables, Shego reached the sofa and snatched a frantic Ru-Ru from its back.

“Got you,” she said reassuringly, although she had little reason to do so. With the hovercraft either unreachable or now a molten pile of slag at the bottom of the volcano and the gantry now completely destroyed, she would be forced to wait on the… her gaze peered through the smoke and could see the large chunk of rock and twisted metal that now blocked the doors to the elevator. _SHIT!_ Only she was running short of options. Slipping Ru-Ru safely into the pouch on her leg, Shego traversed the increasingly difficult path back towards the elevator. For the first time in a very, very long time, it took genuine effort for her to ignite her plasma, such was the amount of energy she had used keeping the wall of fire between herself and Kimmie at the climax of their latest dual. She formed a ball of plasma and fired it at the blockage, but it simply dissipated across its surface without making much of a dent and her hands extinguished. “FUCK!” Shego cursed as she took in a breath of hot air that almost caught in her throat. She was too spent for a blast. Reigniting her hands, she poured as much energy as she dared into them and started to punch at the rock. It quickly started to crumble and for a moment, she thought she was home free. Except a clang sounded when her knuckles hit steel and her plasma died once more. “SHIT!”

Shego stared at the now impenetrable obstacle that barred her way to the elevator. _What the hell am I going to do?_ Slowly a fear that she had not felt since her early days as part of Team Go began to set in, as her eyes frantically looked around for some other way out. _Come on, Shego, think. There has to be some other way out of here._ After a few moments, she finally came up with the most insane and downright stupid idea imaginable and she would never even have considered it, had it not been her only option. Completely drained and running purely on adrenaline, she darted over to the twisted remains of the gantry and began to climb. Like it was some sort of warped ladder, with some of its rungs clinging to the frame out of sheer stubbornness alone, she slowly made her way upwards. The thing creaked under her weight and with every hand and foot that she placed on ever-higher bits of twisted metal, she was sure the whole thing would crumple. When eventually she reached the highest point, a loud and ominous creak sounded from below and Shego was forced to throw herself through the air on a wing and a prayer; as the gantry finally collapsed. Hands scrambling, she somehow managed to dig one set of claws into the edge of an outcrop in the rock wall. Reaching up with the other, it took two attempts, the first of which rained small chunks of stone down on her head, before both hands had a hold of it and she could pull herself up onto the ledge.

Down below, there was another explosion and the loudest creak yet ripped through the air. Moments later, there was a loud splash that signified that the rest of the lair had tumbled into the lava and a large bubble of magma shot upwards and burst into countless hot streams. All Shego could do was turn away as lava rained down around her. Several splashes landed on her catsuit and immediately burned through it. She felt the intense heat against her skin and knew that had it not been for her weird glow-altered physiology, every single one of them would have just charred the flesh from her bones and probably even turned them to ash. She quickly checked her pouch to ensure Ru-Ru was safe and received a terrified squeak before he closed the flap over again. Casting her gaze over the edge, Shego could see the now volatile surface of the lava bubble violently. The chances of an eruption had just dramatically increased and the time she had to escape probably just halved. She was about to plot her course up the rock wall and to the next outcrop, from which maybe, just maybe, her electromagnetic belt grapple would reach the metal roof above, when the lava below erupted into a large stream that blasted against the wall of the volcano; not far above and to the right of where she was situated.

“HOLY SHIT!” Shego exclaimed, as hot rock flew in her direction and she once more had to shield herself against the downpour. However, when she looked up, she could just make out daylight on the other side of what was now a hole in the side of the volcano. “Ru-Ru, I think we just got a new exit,” she said reassuringly in the direction of the pouch on her leg.

The naked-mole-shark did not respond, but she did not need him to. Wasting no more time, Shego dug her claws into the craggy wall and began to climb. Each movement was a struggle, but she forced herself to continue upwards. Suddenly, part of the rock gave way underneath her outstretched hand and she slid downwards; her other hand just barely managing to hold on by sheer force of will. Breathing wildly erratic and heart hammering inside her chest, she scrambled against a now crumbling rock face as she struggled to gain another handhold. It took her three attempts, but eventually, she managed to sink her claws into the wall and make them stick. Taking only the briefest of moments to catch her breath, she continued upwards.

The sound of another explosion rang in her ears and the tremor that passed through the entire rock face almost threw her down into the lava below. “I AM NOT DYING HERE, NOT NOW!” _Not after what just happened with Kimmie!_ An image of the red-haired vixen filled her mind and strengthened her resolve to keep going. She needed to get out of here, needed to see the girl again… needed to feel the soft touch of her pink lips against her own. Climbing higher, Shego finally hauled herself into the hole that had been created by the mini eruption. On her hands and knees, because it has not big enough for her to stand up in and feeling an intense heat against her body that she was surprised did not melt her catsuit from her skin, she crawled towards the beam of daylight. Only she quickly discovered that the hole was not large enough for her to fit through. In a burst of sheer desperation, she ignited her plasma and started to claw at the opening.

Behind her, Shego could hear the rumbling of the volcano and knew it was about to erupt again. “COME ON, YOU BASTARD!” With one final effort, she punched her glowing green fists through the hole and succeeded in widening it enough to allow her to crawl out. Dragging herself forward, she forcibly pulled herself out of the volcano and to her feet. Unfortunately, no sooner had she straightened up; the thing erupted again. While no lava poured out of the fissure through which she had just crawled this time, a massive burst of steam blew through it instead and blasted her into the air.

“SHIT!” Shego yelled as she hurtled towards the ground. She crashed down hard and rolled for several feet before finally coming to a stop. However, she had no way of knowing that the pouch on her leg had just burst open and that Ru-Ru had been sent flying. Completely exhausted and spent from the entire ordeal of fighting Kimmie, using her glow to hold the hero off and then escaping the volcano, Shego barely managed to raise her head before she found it flopping back to the ground.

##

Kim made her way over the edge of the mountain as an explosion sounded from inside. _Shit, if this thing properly blows while I’m still on it, I’m toast!_ From her left, she heard a high-pitched scream and watched as Dr Drakken legged it down the mountainside. For once, the man had the right idea and she quickly followed suit. However, so preoccupied with the simple thought of trying to escape a volcano that was potentially about to erupt, she failed to notice that the mad scientist was on his own. Picking her way through craggy rocks, she began her descent.

After only a few minutes, she stopped when a sound she recognised reached her ears, _helicopters!_ As always, it seemed that Wade had come through for her. Altering her course, she made her way towards them, never having been so thankful to have seen search and rescue, mountain rescue or whoever they belonged to in her life. However, as they drew closer, it became apparent that the choppers belonged to neither. The high-tech design, coupled with the weaponry told Kim immediately to which organisation they belonged. _Global Justice, what are they doing here?_ _And how did they manage it so quickly?_

Before long, grey-clad GJ agents were descending from ropes and fanning out over the mountainside. Kim could only watch as Dr Drakken literally ran into one of them. Both individuals crashed to the ground, but the moment the agent realised who had just knocked him over, he had yelled out to his colleagues, who proceeded to dive atop the mad scientist. However, everyone, including herself, froze when an explosion rocked the mountainside and a small jet of lave spewed forth from a newly created fissure.

When she was able to move once more, Kim continued to make her way towards the Global Justice agents. She disliked the idea of GJ swooping in to rescue her, but given the circumstances, she had little option but to accept their help. In front of her, she saw the agents place Dr Drakken in handcuffs and lead him to the back of a cargo chopper that had lowered itself and opened its rear hatch. It was only on watching this, that she finally realised that Shego was not with him. Kim spun around, eyes frantically scanning the mountainside for any sign of her rival. _Oh, God. What if she’s still inside?_ Rooted to the spot, memories of what had happened back inside the lair, of the fight, the way her rival had purposefully goaded her and how she had managed to lure her into a position where she could not refuse the challenge of kissing her, flashed through her mind. However, they were quickly obliterated by the recollection of the moment when their lips had touched. It had been like nothing Kim had experienced before and while at this moment in time she had no idea what it meant, she knew one thing for certain, she needed to talk to Shego.

Before Kim could even move, she saw a burst of green flame from the fissure that had formed moments earlier and she felt her heart lighten at the sight of raven hair slowly emerging. She let out a long slow breath when the green-skinned woman finally pulled herself out of the crevice and onto the mountainside. _She made it!_ Kim was about to call out Shego’s name, to run over to her, when steam blasted out of the fissure and sent the woman hurtling through the air.

“SHEGO!” Kim yelled and made to run after her, only her eyes widened in horror when she saw the group of GJ agents swarm around her rival the second she crashed back down onto the mountainside.

“No…” she whispered to herself, only just realising what the presence of Global Justice would mean. Shego would be arrested, have her glow suppressed and then be thrown in prison for god knows how long. For a brief moment, she thought about charging in, taking out the agents and helping her rival to escape. Only she knew she couldn’t. Not only was there a lot more GJ agents than those that had just surrounded Shego, but any such action would not only ruin her as a hero, it could even get her arrested. Helpless, she could only watch on as the agents forced the green-skinned woman’s wrists and ankles into handcuffs and leg irons, then dragged her towards the waiting chopper. For a brief moment, she hoped that Shego would ignite her plasma and fight them off, but she only needed one look at her to know that the woman was in no state to even walk by herself. To her horror, she then witnessed the agents throw, yes physically throw, Shego into the back of the chopper, before climbing in after her. It seemed that, while she had not beaten her rival to a pulp herself, in a twist of fate that was darkly ironic, Shego’s battered and bruised body was going to be tossed in jail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I typically don't do endnotes, but I get the feeling I need to do one for this chapter. At this point in time, I suspect some of you are either yelling at your screens or cursing me for what I just did in this chapter or both. Especially given how long it took for me to get Kim and Shego to the point where they kissed for the first time. However, please do trust me when I say that sending Shego to jail at the end of this chapter was not done lightly or on a whim. While the initial idea to do it may have appeared in my head like that, I thought long and hard about it and what it would mean for the story moving forward before I decided to commit to doing it. As I said at the end of chapter 14 and will reiterate now, it will not be easy for these two laddies to form any sort of relationship in this story. However, please trust me when I say that I am playing the long game on this one and it will all be to the benefit of both the story and eventually their relationship.


	38. Come over here dear girl, have a soda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so if everyone is done cursing my name for the end of the last chapter, let's move on and see what happens next. This time around, the chapter title, Come over here dear girl, have a soda, is an altered lyric from the Pink Floyd song, Have a cigar. Given that Kim is never ever going to smoke a cigar, it seemed to make sense to change it to a soda. In terms of what it means, the song is a piece of derisive commentary on the music industry back in the 70's and how the attitude of big record executives was to pull new artists in and offer them a cigar and a whole host of glittering promises about how great their career would be and how everything they would do would be in the artists best interests. Needless to say, I'm sure you will all soon see the comparison once you start reading the chapter. Enjoy.

“Kim, it’s good to see you again.”

Over the noise of the choppers, Kim heard the comment that had been directed towards her and tore her gaze away from the vehicle in which Shego had just been roughly thrown, only to come face to face with none other than the current head of global justice herself; Dr Director. “Betty?” she replied questioningly, wondering why on earth the head of GJ herself had come out to such a routine clean-up operation, “what are you doing here?”

“We’re here to stop Mount St Helens from erupting and causing massive damage to the surrounding forest. Not to mention arresting the perpetrators, although it seems that’s already been taken care of,” Dr Director replied and Kim suspected the woman had deliberately taken the word you to have been used in the collective sense.

“I was referring to you personally.”

“Why don’t you come aboard my chopper and we can talk there,” Betty said, ignoring the question altogether this time. “I’ve got people about to drop some sort of cryogenic bomb into the volcano to lower its temperature and prevent an eruption, but just in case this happens to be the one-percent day, I suggest we leave quickly.”

The woman then indicated for Kim to follow her to a waiting helicopter. However, before she moved, her gaze returned to the cargo chopper aboard which Shego and Drakken had been taken and she watched it take off. And she could not get over the feeling that fate had given her exactly what she had wanted up to less than an hour ago (a beat-up Shego being dragged off to jail), purely to screw her over. Letting out a deflated sigh and knowing that she had some serious issues to deal with once she got back home, Kim turned and followed Dr Director towards her waiting ride. However, while she had been stationary, she had completely failed to notice the small creature that had scampered up her leg and stowed away inside the pouch on her belt. Climbing aboard the helicopter, a GJ agent shut the door behind her and she found herself alone with Betty.

“Have a seat, Kim,” the woman said and indicated for her to sit down across from her.

Hearing Dr Director’s tone immediately set her on edge, but she took her up on the invite regardless, not that she had much choice mind. While the woman’s voice had sounded friendly enough, Kim could detect an undertone that made her exceptionally wary. Like she had just sat down opposite an exceptionally pushy timeshare rep.

“Would you like a soda?” Betty asked, procuring one from a footlocker full of ice and offering it to her.

Kim’s instinctive reaction was to decline, knowing full well that the offer had absolutely nothing to do with Betty trying to be a considerate host. No, this small act was designed to make the woman seem friendly. Like she was just another one of the flock and not the wolf that desired to devour her. Unfortunately, owing to the heat inside the volcano lair and the amount of energy she had just exerted, she could not refuse. She ran her tongue over her now chapped lips… lips that not so long ago had been kissing Shego. Running a finger along them revealed a modicum of the green-skinned woman’s black lipstick and brought about a flash of just how magical it had felt. _No, Kim, focus. You’ll have time to think about Shego later. Right now, you’ve got a more pressing problem to deal with._

She reached out and took the offered bottle of chilled soda. “Thanks,” Kim replied and quickly uncapped it so she could take a much-needed, albeit small drink.

“No need to ration it, there’s plenty more where that came from,” Betty then said, demonstrating her point by taking one out of the footlocker for herself.

 _And so, we continue pulling crap from the psychology 101 playbook. You drink one yourself to show that deep down we’re the same and then offer me more, but with the hidden catch that I now have to sit and listen to you._ However, Kim wasted no time in guzzling her entire bottle. As she did, she felt the helicopter take to the air. When she had finished, she then readily took the second soda which Dr Director offered. She unscrewed the cap, but did not take a drink, instead choosing to reiterate her question from earlier, “why are you yourself here, Betty?” While she asked the question, she already knew the answer. However, the sooner the woman laid her cards on the table, the sooner she could tell her she had no interest in playing at her table.

Yet again, Dr Director did not answer the question that had been asked, “you’ve had quite the busy week, Kim. Four evil schemes foiled, with the perpetrators of each one set to be in jail by day’s end. Five supervillains and one… I suppose we should probably class Miss Rockwaller as a sidekick. I think that smashes your personal records.”

“Don’t you mean the world records,” Kim corrected. Until the woman had mentioned it, she hadn’t even spared any thought to the fact that she’d just broken her own world record for the number of evil schemes foiled and super-villains arrested in the one week. Regardless, she knew it irked Betty no end that she had taken both records from the woman herself **and** that she had done so without wearing a Global Justice uniform. “However, shouldn’t that be four supervillains and two sidekicks?”

“I assume you are referring to your friend Shego.”

Kim felt slightly uneasy at the way the woman had phrased that sentence and knew that only an hour prior, she would have bit back harshly with, _“she’s **not** my friend.” _Only it seemed that her anger towards the woman had evaporated while inside the volcano and truth be told, she had absolutely no idea what she should refer to her as. Instead, she simply replied, “yeah.”

“Shego’s a special case,” Betty growled and she could hear a dark sort of loathing in the woman’s voice. “While she might work as a sidekick, she is officially recognised by Global Justice as being more dangerous than any supervillain that is currently active.”

 _Why on earth does Betty seem to hate Shego so much?_ “How about unofficially,” she probed.

“There is no unofficially,” Dr Director said curtly and took a drink from her soda bottle.

 _Ok, so there is definitely history there that I’m not privy too._ She gave half a thought to having Wade look into it, however, quickly rejected it. While she had no qualms about prying into Dr Director’s personal affairs, it felt wrong, as it always had, to delve into her rival’s past, even though she had never known why. _Guess I’ll have to ask her myself when I talk to her…_ while externally there was no change to her expression, internally her face fell. _In a few hours, Shego will be locked up inside a jail cell. Who knows how long it’ll be before I even see her again, let alone get the chance to talk to her? And there is a hell of a lot we need to talk about._

A shiver ran down her spine and she heard a somewhat muffled voice yell inside her head, _“you like boys!”_

“Anyway, as I was saying, you’ve been grabbing the headlines all week,” Dr Director then said. “However, this particular front page is my personal favourite.”

The woman held a device that looked like a flat computer screen out to her. Kim took it and stared at the image of a newspaper front page. Unsurprisingly, it had a picture of her from this week; sporting her aviators, leather jacket and a pissed of expression on. However, it was the headline that caught her eye, _“Is it even Possible?” What the hell is that supposed to mean?_ Her eyes quickly found the start of the article.

_“After a week of brutality, which has now seen her inflict grievous bodily harm upon four supervillains (Motor Ed, Mr Phaze, Se_ _ñor Senior, Junior and the latter’s fiancée Bonnie Rockwaller)…”_

_Oh, come on, I barely laid a finger on Bonnie!_ However, she kept reading.

_“…world ‘hero’, if the term is even applicable anymore, Kim Possible, yesterday viciously attacked one of our report…”_

_Oh shit!_ With everything that had happened between her and Shego yesterday afternoon, she had completely forgotten about the incident with the reporter. And while the word vicious told her that the article was about to savage her for everything it could, it did not change the facts of the matter; she had indeed punched the reporter.

Her shock must have shown on her face, for Dr Director then said, “do you want to keep reading, or have you seen enough?”

Kim looked up and could see that the woman’s smile had vanished and her lips had thinned. She handed the device back without saying anything.

“I’d ask what the hell you were thinking, Kim, but it’d be pointless for me to do so without first asking a) where the hell you’ve been for two weeks and b) why you’ve left a train wreck of battered supervillains in your wake this week?”

“He wouldn’t take the continued hints to leave me alone and then he practically shoved his mic down my throat,” Kim replied acridly, feeling a residual flash of anger towards the reporter and his camerawoman. However, she elected to leave out the nature of the question he had asked her, which had caused her to snap.

“You’re a seasoned pro, Kim, and you know fine well that despite how much they might irk you, you cannot go around assaulting the press,” Betty retorted in a voice that made her feel like she was one of the woman’s underlings, who’s next words would determine whether she got a full-on rollicking.

Unfortunately, the memory of the event had gotten her dander up. “He invaded my personal space!”

“That does not excuse you assaulting him!” Dr Director yelled as she slammed her soda bottle down on the seat next to her; causing it to foam. “Do you know how damaging this incident could have been for you?”

Kim opened her mouth to reply, but Betty quickly cut her off, “no, of course you don’t. You probably thought that smashing the photographer’s camera and stealing the memory card would be enough to get you out of it. I mean, who’s going to believe that Kim Possible assaulted a reporter without photographic evidence?”

While Dr Director’s final words dripped sarcasm to a level that would give Shego a run for her money, Kim knew that the woman thought this was exactly what her mindset had been, which, to be fair, it had. “She…”

Betty cut her off again, “I don’t want to hear it, Kim. Nothing and I repeat, **nothing** gives you the right to purposefully damage and steal someone else’s property. Especially when the individual in question was just doing her job, regardless of how unscrupulous you or I might find it.”

“If you plan on making me give it back, you’re too late. I destroyed it yesterday,” Kim quickly lied, recalling that she’d tossed the memory card into one of the Sloth’s drinks holders and promptly forgotten about it until now.

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course I’m not going to make you give it back,” Dr Director replied in a tone that said she had just suggested something monumentally stupid. “Do you really think I would go to all the trouble of covering your ass, just to make you gift wrap the evidence and hand it back for the photographer in question to sell to the highest bidder?”

“What do you mean, ‘cover my ass’?” Kim asked, now genuinely interested in what the woman had to say.

“Do you really think I would allow your name to be dragged through the gutter, not to mention the assault charge that would inevitably have been filed against you, because of this?”

“But then newspaper article you just showed me?”

“Never made it to print and all digital copies of it, bar the one I just showed you, have been erased,” Betty answered. “You’re lucky we’ve been monitoring all the local and national media outlets since Thursday, after I became worried that Monday’s incident with Motor Ed was not just a one-off. Unfortunately, we had to allow the stories about your capture of Señor Senior, Junior and Miss Rockwaller to run, as there were far too many witnesses to the event.”

While Kim still had a bad feeling about where this conversation’s eventual destination would be, she could not help but feel a tad grateful. _If mom had seen that headline, I would have come home to find her camped out in my apartment. Probably lurking behind my front door in the hopes of slapping that infernal Alcatraz device of the Tweebs on me, which she’d have gotten them to hook up to my apartment’s security system._ However, she could not imagine Dr Director going to so much trouble, just to save her from her mother. “Thanks, but why did you…”

Betty shook her head in disdain. “Kim, the injuries suffered by the villains you busted this week are bad enough, but at least they were inflicted while you were foiling each of their schemes and will neither interest most people and quickly be forgotten about by the rest, so long as this brutal side of yours goes away immediately. However, this,” the woman held up the computer screen displaying the article, “this, when added to everything else that you have done this week, could easily have ruined you.”

Kim had to quickly take a mouthful of soda to disguise the fact that she had visibly just gulped. She hadn’t thought of that… of any of it. So caught up in her anger and rage at Shego, she had not even stopped to consider the implications of her recent actions on her reputation and thus future requests she might receive. However, she could not allow Dr Director to think she had been so short-sighted. “I know that, Betty,” she lied, “but that doesn’t explain why you got involved. You’re not responsible for me.”

“No, I’m not,” Dr Director agreed, “but if I was, I would have tanned your backside and grounded you for a month.”

_Great, so she spares me from mom’s lecture, just so she can deliver it to me herself._

“However, I have my reasons.” Betty then stood up and moved to stare out one of the small windows. “Two years ago, the world changed, Kim. In some ways irreparably. And you were right at the heart of it.”

“The Lorwardian invasion,” she uttered slowly.

“Correct. Humankind's first ‘official’ visit by aliens and it was a disaster.”

Kim did not need the woman to explain that by official, she meant first instance of which the general public was aware.

“Two beings from a species we only recently found out existed, dropped in on us, past all our monitoring equipment and in only a few hours, laid waste to large swathes of the planet with an army of drones that even our most advanced weapons, which would not have blown up entire cites, couldn’t put a scratch on.”

The bitterness in Dr Director’s voice was palpable and Kim knew that the head of GJ did not like either herself or her organisation being made to look so vulnerable. Perhaps this explained the resentment she felt towards Shego. The head of global justice had hit the Lorwardian’s with everything she had and not managed to land a glove on them. Yet the green-skinned woman had been able to destroy one of their drones with only her plasma covered fists. In fact, now that she thought about it, the prospect of Shego one day deciding to try her hand at world domination by herself must fill the woman with dread. It was no wonder then, that the organisation was constantly trying to work on a formula that would permanently remove her rival’s glow power.

“Ever since,” Betty continued, “every nation across the planet has been struggling to rebuild what was lost. Meanwhile, the global economy remains in the tank, restoration projects are stalling left, right and centre and every bastard who's ever so much as day-dreamed about becoming a supervillain is out undermining law enforcement at best and trying to take over the world at worst.”

None of this was news to Kim. She caught enough newspaper headlines to keep her abreast of the current global climate and put enough villains away each week to know that the sudden spike that had occurred in the immediate aftermath of the invasion was not showing any signs of settling down. “It seems like for every supervillain I put away, a new one springs up and an old one breaks out of jail,” she said in agreement.

Dr Director turned to face her. “Exactly, Kim. I’m glad you can see the bigger picture here. Not to mention that your numbers are spot on. Our current estimates suggest that on average, one individual is raised to the status of supervillain by a national law enforcement agency and another escapes from incarceration per week.”

“What’s your point, Betty?” she asked, albeit politely. “What does this have to do with why you buried that newspaper story?”

Dr Director let out the sign of someone about to say something they sorely wished they could avoid. “Kim, ever since you bested Will Du in every conceivable way during your mission to stop Duff Killigan from turning the world into one giant golf course, I’ve poured more money than I dare admit into both research and training programs. All in the name of trying to produce even one agent that can do what you do.”

“I suppose I can see why. I am the girl who can do anything,” Kim replied with a grin.

She received a reproachful look for the comment, however, it had been deliberately bated on her part. On more than one occasion, Betty had made her disdain for her slogan well known, for she hated the distillation of what she perceived to be nothing short of sheer narcissism. Only she elected not to tell the woman that, when it came to her missions, her mindset of believing that she could do anything, is what set her apart from every single GJ agent or independent hero. By not self-imposing a limit on what she could do, it allowed her to continually push herself beyond the limitations that everyone else was hampered with.

“Unfortunately, I can’t even get close to producing someone who can match the numbers you posted in your sophomore year, let alone those you produce now.”

“I guess that’s just who I am, Betty. I’m Kim Possible.”

Dr Director ignored her unhelpful commentary and continued, “the world is in a bad place, Kim. Global Justice is unable to keep up with this continual influx of supervillains and, despite how good your numbers are, neither can you. And two weeks of you off the grid served only to highlight to both myself and my superiors at the UN that we are losing this fight.”

While this was certainly a new conversational journey they were on, Kim knew that the destination remained the same and they would be pulling into the station any moment now.

“The only way we survive this is together, Kim.” Dr Director then picked up her computer screen, tapped it a couple of times and held it out for her to take.

Frowning slightly, she reached out a hand, took the offered device and glanced at the screen. It displayed a series of four photographs, beside each was a name and some basic information and at the top the words, _“Team Possible.”_

However, before she could even ask what on earth this was, the woman answered for her, “these are the best and brightest potential recruits that Global Justice has been scouting for the past six months. Meaning they’ve not yet been through any of our training programs, so are the closest things you can get to clean slates. You **need** to join Global Justice and train them to do what you can do. You’ll bypass all our training programs, be installed with the rank of squad commander, but with all the privileges of a department head. Which means you answer to no one, except me.”

 _Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting this sort of approach from Betty in her continued attempts to recruit me. And if I’d simply been holding out on her for a better deal, I think I just got it. However, there is no way I’m joining GJ, especially not to train a bunch of new recruits._ Like when she had fallen victim to everyone wearing ‘Kim Style’, this latest proposal threatened the thing she prized most; her individuality. At the end of the day, there was only one Kim Possible and she intended for it to stay that way. “Sorry, Betty,” she said and held the device back out towards the woman, “but the answer is still no. I have no desire to join Global Justice.”

Dr Director’s face twisted into a weird expression that told Kim that the head of GJ was struggling to contain her fury. “Dammit, Kim, I need you!” the woman exclaimed, before quickly adding, “the world needs you!”

 _Wow, it must seriously be hurting her pride to admit that to me._ “The world already has me, Betty. Like you just said, it’s you who needs me,” she replied fearlessly.

“This isn’t about me, Kim.”

“Isn’t it, Betty? I know full well that the only reason you brought in an ‘amateur’ to help out with that Killigan mission was so you could evaluate me. However, you never expected me to blow Will Du out the water. Since then, you’ve been desperate to bring me into the fold, especially since I turned eighteen and pro, all because I make your agents look like amateurs. I bet you have to constantly try and explain to your bosses why a freelancer with no formal training, boasts a success rate that your top agent can’t get anywhere near.”

“The only reason you’re still in business is down to my good graces!” Dr Director spat viciously.

Kim shrugged, “what, because you suppressed one newspaper article about me?”

“Pfft, that, hardly. The reason you’re still in business is because I’ve been generous enough not to shut you down. But if you’re so hung up on your own ego that you’ve lost sight of the greater good, then maybe it’s time I did just that.”

She could see the pure livid fury in Dr Director’s singular eye. _Damn, she almost means it._ Unfortunately, for the other woman at least, Kim had not needed to hear her long spiel to know the crux of the matter. In fact, she’d been well aware of it since long before the Lorwardian invasion. Without even the slightest hint of fear, she called Betty’s bluff. “You won’t and we both know why,” she said firmly. “When all’s said and done, you can’t afford to put me out of business. Because if you did, you’d no longer be fighting to stop the world from being taken over by a supervillain, you’d be fighting to liberate it from the rule of one. So, sorry, Betty, but my answer remains the same as it always has been. I have no intention of joining GJ. And I would appreciate it if you’d **stop** trying to recruit me. Otherwise, I might decide to go on vacation for a couple of months.”

“How dare you threaten me!” Dr Director exclaimed, her voice a mix of both anger and shock.

“I don’t see how me deciding to take a holiday is in any way shape or form a threat to either you or Global Justice?” Kim replied sweetly. “Or are you worried that the notion of going on vacation might spread to your subordinates?”

The look of infuriation that covered Betty’s face was almost comical and reminded Kim of how Dr Drakken had looked earlier in the day. However, the woman’s next words served only to confirm everything she had recently begun to suspect about both her and GJ, “I always get what I want, Kimberly Ann Possible. You’ll do well to remember that when eventually you’re wearing a Global Justice uniform.”

Kim fixed Dr Director with a hard look, now very much done with both the conversation and her as a whole. _I’ve got far bigger problems to deal with than her._ “Don’t fuck with me, Betty. Remember, only one of us can do anything.”

“We’ll see,” spoken in a cold monotone, was the only reply that she got.

The rest of the trip passed with only the muffled sound of the rotors to be heard inside the cabin. When they eventually reached Middleton, she abseiled down a rope and directly onto the balcony of her apartment.

From back up in the chopper, she heard Dr Director call down to her, “you’re making a very serious mistake, Kimberly. However, if you come to your senses and wish to apologise, you know how to reach me. Maybe then we can talk properly.”

“I already told you, Betty, stop messing with me,” she yelled back, not bothering to look up. Using her Kimmunicator, she opened the balcony door.

Stepping inside her apartment, Kim closed the door behind her, locked it and let out a breath she’d felt like she’d been holding since back in the volcano lair. _What the hell happened today?_ she asked herself. Immediately, memories bombarded her from every single event that had occurred and it was a struggle for her to force them all out so she could actually think. _Ok, answer; an absolute crap load. Where the hell do I even start?_ A loud rumble from her stomach told her that it was calling first dibs on her attention.

Crossing the apartment and walking into the open plan kitchen, Kim opened the fridge and gazed at the scant contents. It didn’t take her long to figure out that her options were, put lightly, limited to whatever out of date product she dare eat. _Screw it, I’m getting take out._ Withdrawing a bottle of soda, about the only thing that was actually in date, she unscrewed the cap and took a long drink. While she was doing this and with her vision obscured by the bottle, she was completely oblivious to the movement in her belt pouch as something poked its head out and hopped onto the counter. When she finally lowered the bottle, her gaze came to rest on the work surface and the creature that stood atop it; grinning at her with a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth. Given that, before she had opened the fridge it had not been there, plus the fact she was not accustomed to having random small creatures apparate atop her kitchen countertops, Kim’s less than welcoming reaction was perhaps understandable.

“Ta-da!” the creature exclaimed, at roughly the same time Kim shrieked, “WAH!”

Instinctively, she seized the first heavy thing that came to hand; a wooden chopping board and whacked the creature over the head with it. She took a breath and allowed the brief burst of adrenaline to ebb as her heartrate settled back down to a normal rhythm. A moment later, she raised the chopping board and stared at the creature she had just walloped.

“Uh, Ru... down,” it muttered as it staggered for a few seconds before falling over.

It was only at this point, that she took a proper look at the thing. “Rufus?” she said, without really thinking. “Wait a minute,” Kim thought out loud, “Rufus doesn’t have teeth like those.” While the creature may have looked like a naked-mole-rat, those teeth were definitely wrong. She prodded the thing with the edge of the chopping board and rolled it onto its front. “Wah!” she exclaimed for the second time in as many minutes when she caught sight of the grey fin on the creatures back and what looked like very small gills on the side of its neck. “What the hell are you!” She asked the question, but the answer appeared to be obvious, it was a naked-mole-shark-thingy. For a normal person, this would have classed as beyond weird and a hundred different questions would probably be running through their head, pertaining to how on earth such a creature could exist. However, Kim was not a normal person. In fact, she could scarcely recall a time when such things were not commonplace in her life. As such, it only took her brain a few seconds to come up with the answer, _DNAmy._ However, that only led her to wonder, _what on earth is one of DNAmy’s real-life Cuddle Buddies doing in my kitchen?_

Gingerly, Kim picked the creature up by its small fin and stared into its black eyes, which were still spinning in their sockets. “What are you doing here?” she asked, not entirely sure if she should expect a response or not.

All of a sudden, like someone had just flicked a light switch back on inside the creature’s brain, its eyes focused and before she could do or say anything, it turned its head and chomped down on her thumb.

“OWW!” Kim yelped as her hand automatically opened and she dropped the creature back onto the countertop.

She glanced at her thumb and for a moment could see the bloody holes in the glove of her battle suit, before it quickly resealed itself. While her suit had put pressure on the wound and would stop the bleeding, she still felt the pain and gave her hand a shake. Her gaze then travelled down to the countertop, where the creature stood; shaking one of its small fists at her and uttering a string of unintelligible curses.

A scowl formed on Kim’s face. “What the hell did you do that for?”

The creature looked at her pointedly and then at the chopping board that she had used to whack it. “Payback,” it uttered.

 _Ok, so it knows some English._ This discovery, along with the fact it was part naked-mole-rat, again put her in mind of Rufus. _Ok, given that this thing is clearly DNAmy’s handiwork, did she use DNA from Rufus to create it?_ The idea certainly seemed plausible. While Ron had bought Rufus from Smarty Mart, the naked-mole-rat had clearly been far more intelligent than a member of its species had any right to be. And DNAmy had once used him in one of her experiments; when she’d spliced him with Mr Barkin. So, it was highly plausible that the geneticist had recovered some of Rufus’ DNA and used it to create the creature that now stood on her countertop. However, that still did not answer all her questions.

“How on earth did you get inside my apartment?” Kim asked first and foremost.

The creature gave her a broad grin that showed off its razor-sharp teeth. “Stowaway,” it replied and pointed to the pouch on her belt.

Kim looked down and saw that the flap on the pouch was indeed open. _Well, that’s raised more questions than it’s answered. However, at least it means I don’t have to trace a hole in the apartment’s security._ “Ok, so if you stowed away inside my pouch, does that mean you were in Drakken’s lair?” she asked, following the most logical line of argument first.

“Uh-hu,” the naked-mole-shark nodded.

“Did he kidnap you from DNAmy or something?”

The creature let out what she assumed was a mocking laugh as it shook its head this time. And she did not know whether it was because she’d asked the question or due to the very nature of it.

“Then what were you doing there? And why did you sneak away in my belt pouch?”

“Working,” the creature replied and gave her another grin.

“Working?” Kim exclaimed incredulously. “What, can Drakken no longer afford enough HenchCo bums, that he’s bartered some of Amy’s Cuddle Buddies from her?” While she touted the explanation, somehow it did not seem likely. _Amy’s a seriously crazy collector and I can’t see her parting with any of her creations._

Little to her surprise, the naked-mole-shark shook its head, “ut-uh.”

“Ok, so why are you working for Drakken?”

In response to her question, the creature gave her its broadest grin yet and then uttered just one word, “Shego?”

“Shego?” Kim asked in confusion. “What does she have to do with it?”

If she had thought the situation weird thus far, it was nothing compared with the level of bonkers that the naked-mole-shark’s next response elevated things to, “roommate.”

“What!” Kim exclaimed in sheer disbelief. _He’s got to be pulling my leg here. Shego’s never seemed like the roommate sort, let alone giving house space to a genetically spliced Cuddle Buddy that probably has a tendency for biting people._ “There’s no way you live with Shego.”

The naked-mole-shark nodded its head emphatically, “uh-hu, uh-hu.”

Kim studied the expression on the creature’s face and realised it was telling the truth. _Ok, so this day just got even weirder._ “How on earth did that come about?” _And how have I not found out about it before now?_

The naked-mole-shark glanced around and then scurried across the counter.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Kim made a lunge for it but missed. “Hey!”

She went to make another grab for it, however, stopped when she saw the creature pick up a pen and start to draw on a notepad that she’d bought to jot errands down on, but hardly used; owing to the fact she was never around to actually do so. She watched as the naked-mole-shark rattled off a series of rather detailed sketches that seemed to depict his life story. If she had picked up on it correctly, it seemed that he had rejected simply becoming part of DNAmy’s collection and, while present at what she could only assume was another of Dr Drakken’s social gatherings, had stowed away inside Shego’s jacket. Her rival had then, for some reason she could not fully discern, but might have something to do with him terrorising Drakken, allowed him to stay with her. _I suppose stranger things have happened… Hell, I only need to look at my own recent history with Shego to find plenty of examples._

After the naked-mole-shark had finished, it dropped the pen and stood, panting. So, Kim fetched a bowl from the cupboard and filled it with water. It gave her a grateful look before dropping its head into it and draining the lot. However, there was still one key question that remained unanswered. “If you were in Drakken’s lair, why did you decided to run off with me?”

The naked-mole-shark raised its head out of the bowl to reply, “no choice.”

“Ok, explain.”

The creature stared at her with its beady black eyes and said, quite audaciously, “cheese.”

Given that she had spent years around Rufus, Kim knew exactly what the little blighter was getting at. “Are you seriously saying you won’t tell me unless I give you cheese?”

It nodded emphatically, “uh-hu, uh-hu.”

She rolled her eyes and turned to open the refrigerator. Finding the bulk of a cheese block she could not recall buying; she withdrew it and sat the packet down atop the counter. The naked-mole-shark’s eyes lit up at the size of the offering and it licked its lips. However, the second it opened the sealed packet, it darted away from it as fast as its little legs could carry it. The stench of the cheese filled her nostrils and she did not need to see the creature shaking a small fist at her or hear its string of unintelligible curses to know how seriously off it was. Pinching her nose, Kim gingerly sealed the packet and swiftly tossed it in the trash. Needless to say, when she turned back to face the naked-mole-shark, it did not look impressed with her.

“Hey, it's not my fault it was off!” Kim said, even though it had come from her refrigerator. “How about some dry cereal instead?” she offered, naming the first thing she might have that wouldn’t be off.

The naked-mole-shark blew her a raspberry, turned its back on her and let out a loud, “HMPH!”

Realising that she would need to seriously up her offer or forget about it, Kim decided to appeal to the creature’s inner Rufus. “How about you tell me now and I get you a small box of noodles when I order my Chinese food?”

While Rufus would have bitten her hand off for that deal, it transpired that the naked-mole-shark would not be bought so easily, for it looked over its shoulder and replied firmly, “large!”

“What!” she exclaimed exasperatedly at the creature’s nerve. “I’m not getting you a large box of noodles to yourself.”

The naked-mole-shark quickly blew her another raspberry and motioned to turn away once more.

“Ok, how about a medium box?” _Urgh, I can’t believe I’m actually haggling with a genetically spliced Cuddle Buddy._

The creature looked thoughtful for a moment and then replied, “deal.”

“Good. So, why did you run off with me instead of escaping with Shego?” _Not that she got very far. I can’t believe GJ showed up or that they were so violent with her. I guess she wasn’t joking when she said the authorities treat her like she’s an animal._ On thinking about this, Kim felt a dollop of pity towards her rival. _She doesn’t deserve to be treated like that._

However, she was prevented from focusing any more of her thoughts on Shego… on what had transpired between them inside the volcano lair or to question how GJ had managed to show up so quickly, when the naked-mole-shark shook its head and said, “order first!”

Kim rolled her eyes again and she opened her mouth to say, _“no way,”_ only for her stomach to rumble loudly, causing her to quickly change tact. “Ok, fine. I’ll order food, then you tell me.” _After which I am going for a well-deserved shower._

The naked-mole-shark readily nodded in agreement. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

She gave it a funny look. “Someone’s clearly watched too much Whacky Races.” Nevertheless, she crossed the apartment and picked up the house phone; another Bang and Olufsen product, which resembled a banana in both shape and colour. Yeah, the salesperson in the showroom had definitely seen her coming. Calling the take-out joint, she placed an order. She’d only just hung up when the TV suddenly started blaring. Turning around, she saw the naked-mole-shark had elected to leave the kitchen countertop and make itself at home on the sofa. _Yep, he’s definitely related to Rufus in some way. However, the shark in him seems to have made him a lot more cunning, sneaky and given him a mean streak._

Kim moved to stand in front of the TV and gave the naked-mole-shark a firm look; while reaching a hand out behind her to turn the volume down. “Just because I’ve ordered you food, does not mean you get to make yourself at home.”

When the creature tried to peer around her, reminding her of what her brothers used to do in the same situation, she decided she needed to lay down the law. Reaching over the coffee table, she plucked the remote out of his grasp and turned off the TV. “You can sit and watch TV **after** you’ve explained what happened back at the volcano lair.”

The naked-mole-shark huffed, but she ignored him as she went to the kitchen to fetch the notepad and pen. Placing them down on the coffee table, she stood with her arms crossed. “Well, I’m waiting.”

The creature shot her a sour look as it got up, hopped onto the table and started scribbling again. It didn’t take her long to get the gist of things. After shoving Dr Drakken in the elevator, Shego had gone back to save him and been forced to claw her way up the inside of the volcano, before escaping through the fissure created by the mini-eruption. However, before she could get clear of it, the jet of steam had blasted her down the mountainside and sent the naked-mole-shark flying from the pouch on her leg. She’d then been his only option of escape after he had watched Shego getting tossed into the GJ chopper.

Kim pinched the bridge of her nose. _Great. Now what am I supposed to do?_ Unfortunately, she did not seem to have much choice in the matter. _It’s not like he can go home to Shego and it would be pretty douchey of me to kick him out… But what am I supposed to do come Monday when I head off on a mission? I can’t take him with me and I sure as hell can’t leave him here all by himself… No, focus, Possible. You can deal with that later. Right now, you’ve got bigger problems to deal with._ She sighed upon reminding herself that, while both Dr Director and the naked-mole-shark had been helpful, if largely unwanted, especially in the former's case, distractions, she had a much larger issue to focus her attention on.

“Ok, you can stay here for **tonight** and I’ll try to figure out something more suitable tomorrow,” Kim finally said… a _ssuming I’m still functional come morning._

The naked-mole-shark grinned at her and she had a sneaking suspicion he intended to test her resolve on the mater.

“I’m going for a shower,” she then said and tossed the TV remote down on the sofa. “Try and keep yourself out of trouble.”

The grin she received this time showed off every one of the creature’s razor-sharp teeth and he said in a tone that was far too innocent and sweet for her liking, “okay-dokey.”

Kim motioned to head towards her bedroom, however, stopped when she realised that she had forgotten to ask a very important question. “Do you have a name?”

The naked-mole-shark looked up at her and replied, “Ru-Ru.”

 _Well, if I wasn’t sure before, I am now. Amy definitely created him using Rufus’ DNA._ She gave him a smile, “I’m Kim.”

Ru-Ru laughed evilly at her and then, much to her horror, uttered, “ut-uh, Princess.”

 _Seriously! She’s got her pet come roommate referring to me by that stupid nickname. So not having that._ “If you want to spend the night with me, it’s Kim.”

The naked-mole-shark smiled up at her and, as though this was a negotiation, replied, “Kimmie.”

“It’s Kim, or you can forget about your noodles,” she said firmly.

Ru-Ru blew her a raspberry and then promptly ignored her as he turned on the TV.

 _Well, isn’t he a little shit. Trust Shego to have such a lippy roommate and for me to get lumbered with him. Will she ever stop being a pain in my backside?_ Kim asked herself the question but knew the answer. Even though her rival was probably now locked away inside a jail cell, she knew her evening’s problems with the woman had barely started; let alone the fact they would never likely end. Sighing, Kim wandered off to her bedroom to peel off her sweaty battle suit, shower, put on some fresh pyjamas and enjoy what little time she probably had left before her brain went into a full meltdown. For sooner rather than later, she would have to face the events of the day and what they meant for her sexuality.


	39. The violent sequence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING, PLEASE READ THIS NOTE BEFORE YOU START THE CHAPTER!
> 
> Ok, time for me to put my serious hat on. This chapter was, put lightly, not nice to write. As is always the case when I have to do something horrible to a character I really like. In fact, the version of this chapter that I am posting has actually been watered down from my original draft. However, it still retains a much darker tone than the rest of the story thus far and I am still slightly unsure whether or not I have pushed the envelope too far with just this version, given that I have tried to maintain a lot of the Kim Possible vibe where possible. So, I think the only sensible thing to do is to warn all of you in advance. If you do not like reading scenes of violence and humiliation or don't want to see something horrible happen to Shego, then please stop reading this chapter and skip to the next one. If you do choose to read on, then just remember, you have been warned.
> 
> Before we begin, a little history lesson in regards to the chapter title and my use of it. Over the years, I have written or planned out many scenes involving violence, of a wide variety of types. However, from time to time, one of these scenes will play in my head and my brain will immediately pair it with a track known as The violent sequence. The song is a simple piano piece, that has a genuinely sad vibe to it and a lot of subtleties. In this particular instance, it is these subtleties that make it such a perfect fit for me in terms of the events depicted here. In this chapter, you will not find blood, guts or slasher violence. Instead, the violence is of a much subtler nature, but personally, far more chilling. In terms of the song itself, it was written by Pink Floyd's Rick Wright, for a scene titled the violent sequence in a film the band were asked to score. Unfortunately, the short-sighted director (in my opinion) did not see the tragic beauty of the piece, especially when synced up with the scene he had shot and so rejected it. Thus the track was never released. However, ironically, this proved to be a blessing in disguise, as the piece was later reworked into the song Us and Them, which formed part of The Dark Side of the Moon. 
> 
> Anyway, that's enough history from me. If you are sticking around for the chapter, I hope you appreciate it. And if enough of you are interested, I will consider posting the uncut version as a non-cannon interlude.

Shego was only vaguely aware of the sound of boots and the blurry image of multiple legs running towards and then fanning out around her. The same went for the hands that forcibly grabbed her arms and legs and pinned her to the deck. However, the sharp bite of the handcuffs and leg irons digging into her flesh was enough to properly rouse her. She hurt… a lot, but the far more worrying sight was the grey-clad individuals that surrounded her. _Oh shit, GJ!_ She struggled slightly when two of the agents grabbed her arms and hauled her to her feet. Except that brief flash of minor resistance was all she had to give and she could do nothing to prevent them from dragging her towards the open rear hatch of a helicopter. Glancing to her right, she just managed to catch sight of Kimmie and the woman striding towards her; _Betty!_ she growled internally, _what the fuck is she doing here?_ Her brain quickly put two and two together. _Princess fucking brought GJ down on us! That fucking bitch!_ Next second, she felt her feet leave the ground before the agents roughly threw her into the back of the chopper.

“Fuck!” Shego cried out, as she crashed down onto the metal floor and pain flooded her already battered and bruised body. It seemed the disposition of GJ’s agents towards her had not changed one iota.

On her hands and knees, like she was some wild animal that had just been rounded up, Shego felt herself being picked up and shoved inside a metal cage. While there was enough space for her to stand, that would not likely be happening, regardless of the journey time from here to jail.

Much to her surprise, she heard a voice from nearby say, “now really, must you be so barbaric?”

Shego turned her head and from her position on the floor, could just make out a pair of black boots and the hem of a long blue coat. _Drakken?_

“Can’t you see that she is clearly injured? She needs medical attention!”

_Heh, who would have thought Dr D would be sticking up for me?_

“She’ll get medical attention, once we get to your new home,” a voice that belonged to one of the faceless GJ agents said. “In fact, they’ll be so happy to see her, they’ll even have a little injection waiting for her.”

Shego shuddered on hearing those words; an unwanted reminder of what she knew was to come. Unfortunately, she could do absolutely nothing to prevent it from happening… to prevent them from giving her that damn serum that would suppress her glow. An unwanted memory of the last time it had been administered filled her mind and she had to quickly snuff out the fear that came with it. _I’ve survived it before; I can do it again._ In defeat, she lay her head down on the floor and closed her eyes. In her present condition, with her body completely spent, if she were to activate her glow, she would be screaming in agony for hours and hours before it had managed to heal all her wounds. Except they would arrive at the prison and the serum to suppress it administered well before then. Thus, since it would not allow her to escape, she had no intention of letting anyone see her in that state. Instead, Shego simply tried to focus on her breathing, in an attempt to block out her current level of pain.

Somewhere on the periphery of her senses, she heard a voice say, “if you give me a medkit, I could treat her.”

A second voice then replied, “not a chance. There is no way we’re letting you in beside her. Now sit down and shut up.”

It was all too easy for Shego to ignore the brief argument that followed, granted there was a high probability that she was imagining it anyway. However, she could not ignore the thoughts that started to form in her mind. _I just helped Kimmie move a long way down the road towards accepting that she likes girls; again, and she goes and brings GJ down on me. I was an idiot to try and help her… to think she would ever be interested in me; even if she accepts the fact that she’s a lesbian._ Unfortunately, the memory of the brief make-out session they had shared inside the volcano lair was still fresh in her mind. And no matter how hard she tried, Shego could not deny the darkly ironic truth, _kissing her, despite our hero/villain relationship, felt so right. And I was so sure, given that she willingly came back for more, that Kimmie felt the same way. Guess I completely misread that situation. I can’t… no, won’t ever let that happen again. There’s a damn good reason why I chose to permanently be Shego and this perfectly illustrates why. From now on, there’ll be no questioning that. I’m Shego and that’s that._

##

An unknown amount of time later, Shego’s ears pricked up at the sudden silence that surrounded her; the constant hum of the helicopter’s rotors having ceased. She then heard a gruff voice say, “move it, Mr Lipsky.”

“How many times do I have to tell you people, it’s Dr Lipsky,” Drakken protested indignantly.

“Yeah, right, **Mr** Lipsky. Everyone knows you never even got your bachelor’s degree in robotics.”

“Oh, how many times… I never said my doctorate was in robotics! Honesty, you drop out of one degree and that’s all people ever remember. What did you major in, marching and boot polishing?”

The sound of feet shuffling on the metal floor put an end to the exchange, at least from what Shego could hear. She then opened her eyes, just in time to see the door to her own cage open. A long catchpole was then inserted, only she did not have the energy to resist it slipping over her head and around her neck.

“Move,” a second voice commanded, like she was some dog that had previously savaged him and this would be his revenge. Granted, given the number of GJ agents she’d taken down over the years, she may very well have inflicted grievous bodily harm upon him in the past.

Hesitantly, she struggled to rise, but was not quick enough for the man and so felt the sharp bite of the catchpole’s hoop around her throat. She gagged as she was dragged out of the cage. The moment she felt its noose-like grip lessen, she gasped and drank down a mouthful of air. From her other three sides, she felt catchpoles loop themselves around her neck. The only saving grace being that this time, the faceless GJ agents allowed her to shakily pull herself to her feet. Again, much like she was some escaped wild animal being hauled into the zoo, the agents led her forward. She had to try and match her pace to the one in front, while also not going faster than the one behind, for any step out of synch resulted in the garrotting feel of the respective catchpole around her throat. Slowly they emerged into the mid-evening sun and up ahead she could see the all too familiar grey stone of the prison walls. _Back into hell,_ she thought bitterly as they crossed the short courtyard that led from the helipad into the processing centre. Drakken it seemed had already been taken inside, as she caught no sight of him. However, that was the only thought she spared for the mad scientist. Compared to what she knew awaited her, his journey from here to his cell would be a breeze.

They paused briefly at a metal gate as the prison guards buzzed them through. A few more steps and they stopped again. The gate closed and locked behind them before the large, thick metal door in front opened. Once more they continued forward, the GJ agents doubling up front and back in order for all five of them to fit through the door. A pair of prison guards met them on the inside and quickly ushered them down a short hallway and into an empty white room. Shego was led into the centre, while her handlers fanned out to stand beside the four walls; the catchpoles pulled taught so that she could not move an inch in any direction without choking herself. The two prison guards removed her handcuffs and leg irons before she heard them depart through the same door via which they had all entered. It was a genuine struggle for her to remain upright and despite wishing to maintain an air of stoicism, her head drooped due to her sheer level of exhaustion and her eyes could barely see more than the floor. _I will not give them the satisfaction of seeing me brought to my knees._

From in front of her, she heard the sound of a door opening and she managed to raise her head just enough to see a figure stride towards her. The pair of breasts she soon came into view told her it was a woman and the markings on her uniform, the Guard Captain. _What the hell? Why the fuck do I merit the fucking Captain coming to process me. This is grunt work. And wasn’t Captain Fritz a dude last time I was here?_ Unfortunately, she could not bring her gaze up enough to see the woman’s face.

She had no time to ponder this further, as the Captain barked harshly at her, “arms down, a foot from your sides.”

Her arms were already by her sides, but when she did not immediately move them the required distance away from her body, she felt the catchpoles tighten around her neck. She spluttered as she drew in a restricted breath and shifted her arms, however, it was several seconds later before the tension in the wires that were wrapped around her neck lessened any. The Captain then quickly removed the black and green clawed gloves from her hands and dropped them into a box on the floor.

“Raise your right leg,” the Captain commanded.

Shego thought there was something vaguely familiar about the woman’s voice, but she did not have the energy to both focus on it and comply with the order. And since failing to do one would result in the tightening of the catchpoles again, she struggled to raise her right leg and almost lost her balance as her boot, along with her sock was hauled off of her foot and dumped into the box.

She was allowed no time to put her foot back down before the Captain barked, “raise your left leg.”

Slowly she placed her now naked right foot down on the cold floor and shivered slightly as she raised her left leg; again almost falling over. It was only when she saw the pouch and the open flap, that her exhausted mind remembered… “Ru-Ru!” she exclaimed in horror. It was the second time that day she had forgotten about the naked-mole-shark. Granted, this time it had been a result of circumstance after being blasted down part of the mountain. However, she knew that was a poor excuse and instantly felt a bucket of guilt get dumped over her. _I can’t believe I forgot about him again._

“I think she’s taken one too many knocks to the head this time as she’s spouting gibberish,” one of the Global Justice agents said in a cruel voice and received a murmur of laughter from the others. While it certainly classed as highly unprofessional behaviour, she had pissed off a whole slew of GJ agents over the years, many of them more than once, and so no one would bother to reprimand him.

However, Shego did not care and her eyes remained fixed on the empty pouch, while the Captain removed her second boot and sock. Ru-Ru had vanished, she had no idea where or when and all she could only hope he was ok. Both items joined the others in the box, along with the pouch, which the woman quickly searched. As she lowered her foot, the Captain removed her belt and dumped it too into the box. Then, without warning, the front of her catsuit was torn open. Had Shego not known this was coming, she would have undoubtedly reacted violently. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed dead ahead, as she was forcibly stripped out of her trademark outfit.

A wolf-whistle sounded from her left; the same direction from which the earlier comment had come, but she forced herself to ignore it. _They want you to rise to it,_ she told herself as she tried to take a calming breath, _they want you to act like an animal. All for their entertainment._ The woman then stepped behind her and Shego soon felt her hands unhook her bra and slip it over her shoulders.

Her breasts spilt out and drew commentary from the agent directly in front of her, “I’d always wondered what colour her nipples were.”

Her cheeks slowly started to turn a darker shade of green as another murmur of laughter reached her ears. She immediately felt a flash of anger towards the man and a strong desire to hurt him. Except there was zero chance of her doing that. She struggled to force herself to take another breath; instead of clenching her fists, as doing the latter would only result in the catchpoles tightening again, until she unclenched them. _Misogynistic bastards!_ Despite managing to keep a lid on her temper, she could not stop herself feeling a wave of humiliation as the last shred of her modesty was removed with her underpants. She then heard the unmistakable snap of latex gloves being pulled on from behind her.

Without warning, she felt the cold touch of latex covered hands touch her skin and she instinctively tried to shake them off. The catchpoles tightened in response and did not release until she allowed her body to hang limp. The hands then ran themselves along each of her limbs and fingers slipped between her own fingers and toes. They then felt under her armpits and then…

“Argh,” Shego hissed, as the guard captain roughly grabbed both her breasts from behind and slid her hands between her cleavage and then underneath them. Much to her horror, her nipples stiffened from the unwanted attention and her humiliation ratcheted up several notches as her cheeks darkened further.

“Well, you’re not hiding anything on the outside,” the Captain then said with a hint of malice in her voice. “Now let’s see if we find anything inside.”

Shego involuntarily shuddered at that remark. They had machines that could do this far less invasively, but the woman was deliberately choosing to do things the old fashioned and humiliating way. She had to stifle the urge to yell, _“you bitch,”_ at the captain and instead tried to steady her breathing for what was to come.

“Bend her over,” the Captain ordered in a voice that while undoubtedly cold, also held a degree of cruelness.

_I know that voice, but where from?_

She did not have a chance to think on the matter further, as the GJ agent in front of her replied, “with pleasure,” and pulled down on his catchpole.

Shego felt the cord mercilessly tighten around her neck and she had no option but to move with it and bend forward. The woman then roughly kicked her left foot and she stumbled as her legs were forcibly splayed. Another wolf-whistle sounded, this time from the agent behind her, who now had a completely unobstructed view. She could not help but feel the level of humiliation rise even further as she hissed, “argh,” upon feeling the Captain force two fingers inside her backside. _Bitch!_ the woman had not bothered to use any lubricant. Her cheeks continued to turn an ever-increasing shade of dark green, the longer she remained bent over. Unfortunately, even once the fingers were removed, she knew she was only halfway done. A series of snaps, identical to the one from before, echoed around the room, signifying that the woman had just changed her gloves. This time, prepared for the bitch’s… well, bitchiness, Shego took a deep breath and tried to relax her vaginal muscles as much as she could. At least, as much as one could when they knew they were about to be violated. The only silver lining being that it was not a man performing the cavity search.

This time she only grimaced internally, when two fingers were inserted inside her vaginal opening. Deeper they slid, foraging around inside in search of anything she might be trying to sneak into prison with her. Shego grit her teeth, but could do nothing to stop the unintentional stimulation from sending an involuntary jolt through her.

“Will you stop that!” she spat viciously as she finally lost control. “I’m not hiding anything up there.”

“Oh, how disrespectful you are,” the Captain said in mock offence.

It was on hearing this particular tone, that something from many years ago stirred in Shego’s memory. _It can’t be…_

“We’ll soon knock that out of you,” the woman finished.

_Oh shit, it is!_

To her horror and humiliation, Shego then felt a hard spank on her left buttocks and received a collective laugh from the GJ agents. “Fuck you!” she growled, only to receive a harder spank; this time on her right buttocks.

“Do you want me to take the skin of your backside before you’ve even reached decontamination?” the Captain asked with malicious intent.

Shego froze, as a memory of the woman doing just that crept into her mind. While such actions were considered brutality and firmly against the law, when you were a supervillain that continually tried to take over the world, no one cared much about your rights as a human being. And people such as this bitch took full advantage of it in order to indulge their sadistic side.

“No,” she spat bitterly.

The woman’s latex-clad hand spanked her backside once more. “No, what?”

Shego rolled her eyes, recalling the term by which this particular captain demanded the inmates refer to her by. And despite how much she detested the idea of using it, she had little choice in the matter. Her body was already badly beaten and she had no desire to have her ass canned, especially not in front of the GJ agents. “No, Sir,” she uttered in reply.

“Seems like you’ll soon have her toeing the line, Captain Brooks,” one of the other GJ agents said with a hint of admiration.

Captain Brooks. Shego had initially encountered the bitch back in the woman’s prison which she had been taken to the first time she had been arrested. While their first meeting had only lasted a few minutes, she had quickly got the measure of the Captain and that had been before being informed of her preferred title. It had been on this woman’s watch that she had stood upon the bleachers, rallied all the inmates and then blown a massive hole in the prison wall; through which she had led a mass breakout. Later, during her second spell of incarceration in this particular institute, she had found Captain Brooks waiting for her. The woman had delighted in making her semi-short stay hell, been infuriated when she had escaped and doubled down even harder on her when she’d next returned. However, that had been the last she’d seen of the woman, as she had been headhunted by the warden of a brand-new facility elsewhere in the country. Unfortunately, it seemed she had now returned to her old post and desired to once more torment and torture her. Which now explained why she had merited the personal attention of the facilities Captain.

“Oh, I most certainly will,” Captain Brooks replied. “Isn’t that right, Girl?”

Shego growled internally at the use of the term. She hated being referred to as Girl. It reminded her far too much of… _no, can’t focus on that right now. I’ve got much bigger problems from my past to deal with._ Grudgingly, she was forced to again reply, “yes, Sir,” while trying to keep all contempt from her voice. For if the woman detected any, it would undoubtedly result in some form of punishment. She then felt a latex covered hand grab a fistful of her hair and yank her head back, which caused her to hiss.

“Bite and I knock your teeth out,” Captain Brooks declared, as a finger pressed down on her chin; forcing her mouth to open.

Finally, Shego met the woman’s gaze and saw those merciless grey eyes, her sharp features and her long brown hair that was tied up in a tight knot. It was a struggle for her to resist the urge to savage the bitch’s fingers. While the woman could knock some of her teeth out now, when eventually she had her glow back, they would regrow. She’d discovered that particular quirk after Kimmie had knocked one out a few years ago. Unfortunately, losing a couple of teeth would just be the start of the hell that would be rained down upon her, should she give in to the impulse. And given she’d gone four months without her glow returning the last time she had been in jail (she’d been broken out by Junior and then Motor Ed), she had no idea how long a stint she might be in for before it returned and she could escape. _I never did get Kimmie back for that,_ she mused, as Captain Brooks roughly shoved fingers into her mouth and ran them around every nook and cranny. The taste of the latex on her tongue eventually caused her to gag.

Coughing and spluttering, she only just caught Captain Brooks saying, “bring her this way, Boys. It’s time to hose this one down.”

 _Fuck, I hate this part._ In a normal jail, the term ‘hose’, would simply have been a metaphor for her taking a shower, in which she would be allowed to wash herself. However, here and under the control of Captain Brooks, Shego knew it would be a literal hosing down. She watched the woman walk to the door opposite her and step through it. The GJ agents doubled up forward and back again and then led her through it into the decontamination room. Positioning her in the centre; over the drain, the men once more fanned out. She could only watch as Captain Brooks pointed a hose at her and gave her a nasty smirk. The freezing cold water shot out of the nozzle and hit Shego straight in the face and she could not stop herself from both flinching and letting out a loud yelp. Her actions drawing a cruel laugh from both the assembled GJ agents and the Captain. _Bitch!_

“What, don’t like the cold?” Captain Brooks mocked, as she ran the icy jet over her body.

Shego said nothing as she tried to centre herself. _Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!_ The truth was, she hated the cold. In fact, when she had her glow active, it did not allow for it. Even in the harshest of conditions, it could and did, keep her body at a warmer than normal temperature. She had to resist the urge to turn it on now. While she desperately wanted to be warm, it would immediately try to start healing her wounds and quickly leave her screaming. And she would not give Captain Brooks the satisfaction of watching her writhing in agony… twice. For a full three minutes, Shego was blasted with the freezing cold water, the woman insisting on thoroughly soaking every single part of her.

When the water was finally turned off, she stood, involuntarily shivering and could not stop herself from clutching her arms around her chest in a desperate attempt to preserve what little heat she had left. Her teeth chattered as she somehow felt even worse than she had done prior to the hose being turned on. And she knew that she would, at the very least, end up with a cold because of this. _I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,_ she cried internally, as she watched the Captain wander over to her with a bar of soap and a scrubbing brush in her hands.

“We’d best make sure you’re nice and clean for inspection time, hadn’t we,” Captain Brooks then said, as she applied soap to the brush. “Arms up, Girl”

Fearing what punishment might be dished out if she refused, Shego did as instructed and felt the coarse bristles of the brush dig into her back and had she not already seen it, she would have sworn they were made of metal. With no hint of mercy, Captain Brooks swiftly began to scrub the brush from her shoulders down to her backside. “Argh,” Shego winced and had to stifle a whimper as the woman relentlessly dragged the brush over every inch of her skin below the neck; taking off the top layer and turning it a nasty shade of green that in a normal person would be the equivalent to being red-raw. In fact, by the time the Captain was done, the burning sensation that covered virtually her entire body was so severe, that she was actually thankful to feel the now soothing cold jet of water hit her, as she was rinsed off. It was another full three minutes before the water was eventually turned off. Dripping wet, freezing cold and with her skin now a dark shade of green, she stood and shivered as she waited for the next segment of her torment.

“Bring her this way, Boys,” Captain Brooks commanded, before wandering across the room

Once more, Shego was forced to follow the woman, as she was led over to the full-body air-dryer. Unsurprisingly, she was blasted with cold air, but at least it removed the residual water from her skin. Still freezing and with no indication that she would be getting her orange jumpsuit yet, she was led out of the decontamination room and into a third, sterile-looking room, with white walls and a metal table at the far end. Beside it, she saw another Global Justice agent, who held an open briefcase out in front of him.

 _No… not this!_ Even though she knew it had been coming from the moment she had first been handcuffed, the thought still slipped into Shego’s mind. Slowly she was forced towards the table. With each step, a foreign fear began to build inside her and the front catchpole quickly tightened around her neck as she tried in vain to fight against it. She watched Captain Brooks withdrew a large hypodermic, filled with a red liquid, from the briefcase and the fear quickly become terror. _I can’t go through this again…_

It was difficult for Shego to explain what having her glow felt like to someone, not that she had tried often and certainly not for a very long time. After the comet had crashed into the family treehouse and the green glow latched onto her, it had, exceptionally painfully, altered her physiology and become an intrinsic part of her. And to have it forcibly suppressed, felt like half of her very being had been ripped away, leaving her hollow inside.

Captain Brooks then gave her another nasty smile and held up the large syringe in her latex covered hands. “Medication time.”

The sight of this hateful woman about to enjoy inflicting the worst possible torment upon her proved to be too much for Shego to handle. _I can’t go through this again… I won’t go through this again!_ Summoning all the energy she could, she forced her hands to ignite.

Before the first GJ agent had been able to utter the words, “OH SHIT!” Shego had sliced through the wires of the four catchpoles and freed herself from there noose-like grip. Everything then happened in a few heartbeats. As she darted backwards towards the door, the four agents dived at her. She caught the one in front of her with a plasma covered punch to the chest, but it lacked the heat required to penetrate his uniform. Shego staggered and almost cried when she felt control of her glow slip through her fingers. Her plasma quickly extinguished itself and there was nothing her exhausted and battered body could do to stop the men descending upon her.

“No, get off!” she screamed, as each of them seized one of her limbs. However, her struggle against them was purely symbolic, as she had no energy left to put up any proper resistance. Except the GJ agents did not take it that way and two fists simultaneously punched her in the gut. Shego would have doubled over, as pain shot through her, had it not been for the fact that she had no control over any of her limbs. Utterly helpless, she was dragged over to the table and had her naked torso harshly pressed onto its smooth, cold surface. The impact winded her and the resultant pain caused a tear to form in one eye.

Shego’s body started to shake and she could not stop herself from crying out, “no, no, no.” However, she could only watch as Captain Brooks lazily moved to stand over her.

The woman then seized her damp hair at the crown of her head and then slammed her face into the table. “Argh,” she cried as a film of water quickly formed across her eyes. She continued to shake, but the woman held her head firmly atop the metal surface. She then felt the tip of the hypodermic touch against her neck. “No, please, don’t,” she pleaded, her gaze looking up to stare into the captain’s dull, merciless grey eyes. “Please, I’ll be good, just don’t do **this** to me.”

A cold and cruel laugh escaped from Captain Brooks’ mouth. “I’ve always wanted to be the one to do this to you,” the woman replied. “And I so hoped you would beg me not to.”

Knowing that nothing she said or did would now prevent what was about to happen, Shego felt her resolve stiffen and she spat,” fuck you,” just before the hypodermic pierced her flesh.

Shego only had a vague memory of what it felt like to actually be burned; her glow having made her fire retardant. However, whenever this happened, she was always reminded of it. From the point of contact in her neck, a sensation beneath her skin, like it was on fire, spread throughout her body and a piercing scream was ripped from deep inside her. The GJ agents had all released their grips on her and she blindly staggered backwards, before crashing to the floor. Curling up as tightly as she could, Shego continued to scream as the burning feeling deepened and began to penetrate every single fibre of her being. Her skin blazed bright green and her hands were momentarily wreathed in plasma. And then both suddenly ceased, like they were candles that had just been snuffed out.

How long she lay there, naked, freezing and writhing in agony, she did not know. However, when the pain finally subsided, she could start to feel the hollowness… the deep absence inside of her. Like she was simply the empty husk that had been left behind once death had claimed the soul. Only she still drew breath. Raising a shaking hand, she wiped away the tears from her eyes and pulled herself into a sitting position. Having to fight the urge to simply lie on the floor and allow unconsciousness to take her.

“Get dressed,” Captain Brooks then ordered and flung a set of prisoner clothes at her.

Robotically, like she was capable of only understanding that one simple instruction, Shego dressed in the white underwear, t-shirt and orange jumpsuit that had been thrown at her. Finally, she slipped her feet into the light shoes. Two prison guards then stepped forward and restrained her with handcuffs and leg irons, before pulling her up onto her feet. They then took her by the arms and dragged her out of the room; following the Captain. At a fairly brisk pace and one she could barely keep up with, Shego was led into the prison block.

“You have your good friend Kim Possible to thank for your accommodation arrangements,” Captain Brooks then commented as they walked past occupied cells.

She was only vaguely aware of hearing Kimmie’s name and so did not respond; not that she was capable of saying much in her current state.

“I was given word yesterday, by the officers that brought in two of our other new inmates, that she had wished to convey the message that I’d be getting another arrival very soon and that I should house you in the same cell as one of them.” The captain then stopped in front of a cell and signalled for one of her underlings to open the door. “She’s another one who’s going to quickly learn to toe the line. So, you’ll be in good company.”

She was moved towards the cell door, where she came face to face with…

“Not you!” Bonnie exclaimed when they caught sight of one another. 

The guards quickly removed Shego’s restraints and a harsh shove in the back later saw her stagger inside.

“I demand you put her someplace else,” Bonnie then added.

“Sorry, little Miss Priss, you’re just going to have to learn to share,” Captain Brooks said with a cruel laugh as she personally slammed the cell door closed.

Her emerald eyes like black holes in the skies, Shego stared vacantly at Bonnie. This was always how she felt in the immediate aftermath of having her glow suppressed via the GJ serum. The shock to her system so great that it turned her into a docile zombie for a day or two.

“What the hell are you staring at?” Bonnie demanded as she looked down her nose at her.

Shego did not respond, her brain struggling to process what had been said to her, let alone form words with which to reply.

“Geez, what a total loser,” the brunette then scoffed. “And just so you know, the top bunk is **mine**.”

Somewhere deep inside, Shego knew she needed to argue this point. That she needed to put the bitch in her place and if needs be, take the top bunk by force. Except this message never made it to her brain. Instead, she robotically stumbled the short distance to the bunks and lay down on the bottom one. Still in agony, she was vaguely aware of Bonnie rattling off other things that she wasn’t allowed to do, but she didn’t care. Closing her eyes, she offered up no resistance as unconsciousness rushed up to claim her. However, not before an image of Kimmie somehow cut through the fog of her mind. And two concurrent thoughts accompanied it. _Fuck you, Princess,_ and, _kissing you felt so right._ Needless to say, even once she recovered from the after-effects of the GJ serum, her mind was going to be in some serious turmoil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, deep breath after that chapter. It really did pain me to put Shego through all that hell (more so in the original draft) and while I felt sorry for her throughout, the point where she was pleading for Captain Brooks to not give her the glow suppressing serum was, for me, utterly heart wrenching. I suppose it is perhaps a little late to warn you all that I am not a nice author and if I need to do something horrible to my characters, even the ones I love, I will. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading this chapter and do let me know if you would like to see the uncut version. However, I'll save my full endnote for the end of the next one, which should be with you in a day or two. 
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


	40. Your Possible past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone and welcome to the fourth, if slightly late, chapter of this update. While I do apologise for it being late, the extra time has allowed me to make some much-needed changes and I am very happy with the final result. I hope once you read it that you all feel the same. I also feel I need to do a big woo-hoo, as this chapter takes our little one-shot over the 200K word mark. 
> 
> The chapter title this time is one I have been itching to use for weeks. I was listening to Pink Floyd's The Final Cut several weeks ago and as soon as the song that this chapter takes its title from came on, I knew I had to use it. So, I hope you all enjoy chapter 40: Your Possible past.

Kim closed her bedroom door and turned out the overhead light. In the semi-dark of the early night, she crossed over to her spacious double bed and deliberately placed Pandaroo down within arm’s reach on the nightstand. She had a bad feeling she would probably need the Cuddle Buddy sooner or later. Dressed in light lilac pyjama trousers and a matching vest, she lay down, rested her head atop the centralised pillows and shut her eyes. _Ok, so where the hell do I start?_ So much had happened since she’d woken up at five-thirty that morning, yet despite having saved the world from Dr Drakken yet again and gotten one serious workout in the process, she did not feel tired. However, after having eaten her Chinese food, she’d left Ru-Ru on the sofa to watch TV and stuff himself full of the snacks she had procured from the kitchen cupboard, told him she was going to bed and to disturb her at his peril.

 _Ok, so I’ve now got a naked-mole-shark living it up in my living room, but that can wait until tomorrow. As for GJ, I’ve probably pissed Betty off no end and certainly haven’t heard the last of this. But until such a time as she plays another card, I can’t do anything about it except refuse to entertain missions from them. Heh, bet she won’t like that one bit._ She shook her head. _Seriously, Kim, haven’t Betty and Ru-Ru stalled you enough already?_ she admonished internally. _You’re going to have to deal with **thee** issue sooner or later. _She felt her heart rate hitch up a notch and her breathing become slightly erratic as she received a flash of her and Shego kissing inside the volcano lair. _For fuck sake, Kim, get a hold of yourself. Aren’t you the one who only a few hours ago was politely reminding the head of Global Justice that you can do anything? Yet you're already getting yourself all worked up over the slightest reminder of what happened._ Even though the thought crossed her mind, it did little to help matters. And despite what she might want to believe, deep down, Kim knew she was scared. Scared of what had happened back in the volcano lair between herself and Shego. Scared of how right it had felt. Of what it meant for her sexuality and scared of…

_“You don’t have to be scared, Kimmie.”_

Internally, Kim turned her head to see Shego standing behind her. However, unlike the previous instances when her rival had appeared inside her head of late, she did not feel an immediate torrent of anger towards her. _Shego,_ she whispered.

 _“That’s my name, don’t wear it out,”_ the green-skinned woman replied with a grin. _“So, finally ready to have that little chat about how you like girls?”_

She opened her mouth to say… _yes,_ but the word caught in her throat.

 _“It’s ok, Kimmie. You can do it. Just say it with me, I like girls,”_ Shego coaxed and like the real thing earlier that day, her voice, while playful, lacked even the slightest hint of mockery.

 _I… I… I like…_ again she struggled to finish. _I like…_

Images of everyone she had ever loved or respected flashed through her mind and brought with them a singular crushing message, _“you like boys.”_

Anguish written across her face, Kim almost broke down into tears as she uttered, in a voice akin to the echo of a ghostly whisper, the mantra that had been imposed upon her by family, friends, schooling and society, _…I like boys._

 _“She likes boys!”_ the roar of the Barkin-Dragon echoed around them as it staggered onto the scene, however, it sounded hoarse almost like it was ill.

 _“Urgh, seriously, Kimmie?”_ Shego declared as she rolled her eyes. _“I thought I gave Stevie-boy the boot earlier today?”_

While she was distracted, the Barkin-dragon lunged at the green-skinned woman and so she was forced to dive out of the way of the somewhat laboured attack. _“She likes boys!”_

Shego quickly sprang back to her feet, her hands wreathed in green plasma. _“This time you’re going down for good, Stevie-boy. She likes girls!”_ Her rival then darted forward and forced the Barkin-dragon to rear up onto its hind legs in order to avoid being sliced to pieces by a series of fiery knife-hand strikes. However, this only delayed the inevitable, as the woman quickly shot up into the air and cleaved off the beast’s other massive horn; the first having never regenerated from one of yesterday’s bouts.

The Barkin-dragon roared and blinded by the obvious pain, began to madly charge around; much like it had done the first time it had lost an appendage.

Instead of pursuing it, Shego turned back to stare at her. _“You don’t have to listen to him anymore, Kimmie.”_ The green-skinned woman then extinguished her plasma and held out a hand. _“Just take my hand and we can work through this together.”_

Kim looked at the offered hand as memories from earlier in the day filled her mind. Of the spark she had felt the moment her lips had first touched Shego’s. Of the desire and lust that had exploded inside her from the moment they had parted and that had compelled her to return for more… of how right it had felt to have been within the green-skinned woman’s embrace, as they furiously made-out. She raised a shaking hand of her own. Tentatively, she tried to force it to extend, force it to grasp Shego’s but found that she couldn’t. _I c…c…can’t,_ she wailed, tears now forming in her eyes.

 _“Yes, you can, Kimmie,”_ Shego said with a smile. _“You don’t have to be scared anymore.”_

Unfortunately, her hesitation had been enough to give the Barkin-dragon an opening and it took full advantage of it. Bursting back onto the scene, it bulldozed into Shego and sent her flying into the air.

 _No!_ Kim cried out in anguish as the tears began to fall. _Shego, I’m so sorry._

_“What, just like you’re sorry for what you did to me?”_

The sound of the girl’s voice, so perfectly recreated from her own memory, sent an icy chill down Kim’s spine and she froze. _Lisa,_ she whispered, as the girl once more appeared beside her. She was dressed in her Middleton High cheerleading outfit, long blonde hair fanned out behind her and with a sparkle in her brilliant blue eyes.

_“Tell me, Kim, do you think she’d forgive you if she knew what you did? Knew the real reason why you’re so scared.”_

_I’m n…n…not sc…scared,_ Kim mumbled but gulped when she saw the look of contempt spread across Lisa’s face.

 _“Really,”_ the girl mocked. _“Then perhaps you need a little trip down memory lane.”_

 _No,_ Kim cried out, _please. I don’t need to see **that.**_

 _“Sorry, Kimmie,”_ Lisa said, mimicking Shego at her most derisive, _“but you don’t get the choice in the matter. So, why don’t we start where it all began.”_

Before Kim could even react, Lisa shoved her and she fell backwards. Hitting the ground, she smashed through it and hurtled downwards through the darkness of her own mind, until she once more crashed, face first, into the polished wooden floor of the Middleton High gymnasium. When the imaginary pain eventually subsided and she managed to pick herself up, she found herself dressed in her own high school cheerleader’s outfit. Her gaze then drifted up to the bleachers, where Lisa was lounging.

 _“I suppose you must have been feeling really good about yourself at this point in time,”_ Lisa said with a hint of resentment.

 _What do you mean?_ Kim asked, feeling completely on edge and as if every single question or point that the girl made was a bear trap just waiting to snap shut around her leg.

_“Surely you remember. It was nearing the end of your freshman year. You’d gotten rid of your braces, grown into those good looks of yours, were on the cusp of becoming a fully-fledged world hero **and** been made captain of the cheer squad; who had a regional final coming up. Everything was golden for Kim Possible.” _

Kim did remember. Up to that point in her life, to this very day that she knew Lisa had brought her back too, the previous few months had been the best of her life. Every single thing that the girl had talked about had happened in that period and she had genuinely felt as though nothing could go wrong and that she could do absolutely anything. Unfortunately, she had still been too naive to realise that this was normally the point where the bottom fell out of your life. A lesson she had been about to learn in an exceptionally nasty way. _It was a fantastic few months,_ she said slowly, even though she felt this was probably the wrong thing to do.

 _“Yes, it was. You really were the girl who could do anything,”_ Lisa agreed, however, then added derisively, “ _well, almost anything. Shall we see what happened that day? Where it all began?”_

 _No,_ Kim whispered. _I don’t need to see this. I made a mistake!_

Lisa let out a shrill laugh, rather unbecoming of her pretty features. _“I already told you, you don’t get the choice. Now, if I remember correctly, I was sitting here, like this,”_ the girl sat up, hunched her shoulders and immediately looked vulnerable.

Even though she had seen this all before and knew what happened, Kim still felt compelled to go and sit beside the girl. To talk to her and try and find out what was wrong with her. And despite the fact Lisa was a construct of her own imagination, she was completely taken aback when the girl lifted the thought straight from her mind.

 _“You’re even thinking it now, aren’t you?”_ when she did not immediately answer, Lisa continued, _“poor Lisa, she seems so unhappy. I need to butt my nose into her problems and fix them because I can do anything.”_

Kim knew this was exactly how she had felt that day. Back then, in her freshman year, Lisa had been her best girl and she had known something had been up with her all day. Granted, in hindsight, the signs had been there for at least a week, but she had been so caught up with trying to balance the sudden demand on her time for serious missions that she had not stopped to talk to the girl… until now. And like she had back on that fateful day, Kim found herself following the exact same path across the gymnasium and up onto the bleachers.

“Hey, Lisa, are you ok?” she asked, exactly as she had all those years ago. Without invitation, she sat down beside her friend. “You really seemed off today.” That had been putting it lightly. Lisa had been forced to sit out the final cheer by the other girls, unsurprisingly led by Bonnie and Kim did not yet have the authority to overrule the entire squad.

Her voice timid and exactly how Kim recalled it having been, Lisa replied slightly despondently, “I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound fine,” she replied, sitting her pom-poms down in front of her. “In fact, you’ve seemed really withdrawn all day.”

“I’m fine,” Lisa mumbled again and turned her body away slightly.

Immediately, with that feeling that she could do anything coursing through her, Kim reached out a hand and took hold of one of Lisa’s; it felt rather clammy. “Come on, Lisa, we’re best girls. You can tell me anything. I can help.”

Instantaneously, Kim found herself standing back down on the gymnasium floor and looking up at the moment she had just been reliving; frozen in time. _What the hell?_ She turned to look around and saw that Lisa was stood beside her.

 _“Wow, that was narcissistic of you,”_ the girl admonished in an acrid tone. _“No maybe or I might be able to. Rather a definitive, I can. No wonder I made the mistake of trusting you. You were so sure of yourself that almost anyone would have fallen for your bullshit.”_

 _I genuinely believed that I could do absolutely anything,_ Kim replied, her gaze focused on their frozen counterparts. _…I still do. That’s why I’m able to do what I do. That’s what makes me Kim Possible…_

 _“Maybe that’s all the more reason for you to watch this,”_ Lisa spat. _“Maybe you need to see the consequences of convincing people to believe so blindly in you.”_

While she disliked the idea of anything that might cause her to question her mantra, Kim knew that this was purely a secondary objective for Lisa. However, before she could say anything else, she found herself back up on the bleachers and immersed in the memory.

Kim felt Lisa give her hand a light squeeze as she turned to face her. “Ok,” she said and gave her a faint smile.

“So, what’s up?” she asked lightly, completely oblivious to how sensitive and huge the matter was.

Lisa did not immediately respond and instead, she watched the girl stare out across the gymnasium. Kim followed suit and must have waited a minute or two before hearing the girl ask, “Kim, are there any boys that you like?”

She felt her cheeks turn slightly pink at the question and a memory of her disastrous kiss with Walter Nelson quickly filled her mind. _Never again,_ she thought, the embarrassing incident where their braces had become tangled having been enough to sour any particular liking she may have had for the boy. Finally, she replied, “ok, don’t tell anyone, but Josh Mankey is so cute. Don’t you think?”

From beside her, Lisa sighed, “not really.”

On the one hand, Kim felt somewhat annoyed that her best girl had so offhandedly dismissed the current object of her own affection and effectively branded him ‘not cute’. However, on the other, the idea that Lisa was not interesting in Josh made her feel somewhat relieved, _one less girl to compete against._ “Ok, so Josh isn’t your type. Who is?” she asked, sensing that her best girl’s problems revolved around a newfound crush.

“I’m not sure…” Lisa eventually began, but quickly trailed off.

 _You are so crushing on someone!_ Giving the girl’s hand a reassuring squeeze, Kim then pressed her on the issue, “there’s someone you like, isn’t there?” she then let out an airy laugh, “it isn’t Ron, is it?” her best friend coming in at number one on her list of boys girls might feel awkward about liking, given his status of social reject.

A faint laugh escaped from Lisa’s lips, “it’s not Ron…” there was a moment's hesitation before the girl added, “…I don’t think I like any of the boys.”

Unsurprisingly, Kim missed the subtle hint and quickly replied, “it’s ok if you don’t like any of the boys at school. There’s no rule that says you have to date one of them. In fact, some of the girls think it's better that you don’t, as seeing them every day can be so much pressure. However, I can’t imagine not seeing Josh every day, he is so dreamy.”

Lisa did not respond and when it became apparent that she wouldn’t without prompting, Kim asked, “so, what is he like?”

A faint smile formed on her best girl’s lips and it seemed her question had finally put a dent in the dam. “They’re strong and utterly fearless, but also kind and compassionate.” Lisa then turned to stare at her, but Kim was completely oblivious to the danger signs. “They also have this amazing hair that always makes me think that it’s on fire and those eyes… uhh, they have these perfect olive-green eyes that I could just lose myself in.” A dreamy expression formed on the girl’s face as she finished, “and they can do anything.”

Perhaps it had been her own naiveite or the fact that she only had the vaguest awareness that homosexuality was a thing, but even with the statement of her own mantra, Kim did not even contemplate the idea that Lisa had just provided a perfect description of her. And still completely clueless, she replied, “wow, he sounds amazing. Are you going to ask him out?”

A look of anguish spread across her best girl’s face and Kim completely misread it as meaning that her friend lacked the courage to ask her paramour out on a date. Even when she said, “Kim, you don’t understand. I don’t like boys.”

Lisa’s words did not even compute inside her brain and so she foolishly replied, “I know, you sound like you’re already in love with this one. So, what’s his name?”

“Kim, she’s not a boy!” Lisa exclaimed.

The following two things then happened simultaneously. While her brain finally realised what her best girl had just said, she heard Lisa say, “Kim, I’m sorry, but if I don’t do this now, I’ll lose my nerve and never will.”

Before she even knew what was happening, Lisa reached out and kissed her full on the lips. She felt a spark strike up inside her and while her brain was having every one of its fuses blown by the sudden turn of events, her body reacted of its own accord and she found herself in the motions of returning the kiss.

The scene froze and Kim found herself once more on the gymnasium floor and starring up at herself and the girl who had once been such a close friend. And for the first time since the actual event and the difficult days that followed, she finally managed to admit the truth to herself. _Oh my god! You kissed me… and I started to kiss you back!_

 _“Yes, you did,”_ Lisa agreed from beside her. _“Because at that point, you really could do anything. You were completely unburdened by the pressures of family, friends, school and society.”_

Kim, now finally able to recall the full details of what had happened between them on the bleachers that day, could not refute the claim. She had felt a spark ignite inside her when Lisa had brushed her lips against her own and now, having experienced a lot of kisses with multiple boys and one furious make-out session with Shego, she knew which one it felt comparable to.

 _“Did you ever contemplate what might have been?”_ Lisa then asked, her voice laced with contempt.

 _No,_ Kim whispered in reply. _I…_

_“…allowed yourself to be forced into the mould everyone expected you to fit into? Yeah, I remember. In fact, it’s about to start right…”_

Next second, Kim was back on the bleachers, her lips still interlocked with those of Lisa. However, before her brain even had a chance to figure out what was happening, a voice barked at them from the door down below, “what on earth are you ladies doing?”

Kim and Lisa immediately broke off the kiss and their collective eyes widened as they stared down at the imposing figure of Mr Barkin.

A wave of fear quickly crashed over her as the teacher then boomed, “Possible, Richards, get down here this instant.”

Kim robotically got to her feet and trudged down from the bleachers to stand in front of the man, her gaze firmly fixed on the floor. _Oh god! I’m in serious trouble now. I’ll probably end up with detention!_ While she did not dare avert her eyes from the polished woodwork, she knew Lisa was stood directly beside her.

“Do either of you care to explain just what on earth the two of you thought you were doing up there?” Mr Barkin demanded, his clenched fists on his hips.

Kim could not even look at the teacher, let alone respond. In fact, she was not even sure what had just happened back up on the bleachers… what she had just felt when Lisa had kissed her… or why she had started to kiss her best girl back before Mr Barkin had interrupted.

From beside her, Lisa managed to utter, “we were just…” before she was swiftly cut off.

“I saw what you were doing,” Mr Barkin declared. “Both of you, come with me.”

The man turned and walked through the door and like her body was on autopilot, Kim followed. Trudging through the hallways, she snuck a glance at her best girl and met with a faint smile and a mouthed, _“I’m sorry, Kim.”_ Not knowing what else to do, she replied wordlessly, _“it’s ok.”_ It wasn’t ok. Nothing about this situation was ok. Lisa had just kissed her and for some reason that she could not fathom, she had started to kiss her back. Only girls were not supposed to kiss other girls… were they? She didn’t know. Somewhere in the back of her head, she had a vague awareness of such a thing existing, but it certainly wasn’t normal. In fact, no one had ever even mentioned it to her. So, why on earth had Lisa just kissed her?

Mind at sea, Kim followed the direction of the teacher’s pointed finger and walked into Mr Barkin’s office; Lisa right on her heels. Like it was a guillotine blade hitting the block, the office door slammed closed behind them.

“Have a seat, Ladies,” Mr Barkin said as he walked around to the other side of the desk and sat down in his chair; it creaked under his not inconsiderable heft.

Kim did as instructed and sat in one of the two chairs on the opposite side of the desk; Lisa occupying the second. Her palms felt clammy, her breathing was slightly erratic and her heart felt as though it was in her mouth. _Oh god. I’m about to get detention until the end of the semester!_ She snuck a glance at Lisa, who surprisingly looked slightly less worried about the whole thing.

“Ok, Laddies, listen up,” Mr Barkin boomed, fixing them both with a hard stare. “I know you kids these days are into all sorts of weird things, however, what I just saw is not acceptable behaviour, especially from two of our top freshmen. While that sort of behaviour might fly in Lowerton, here in Middleton, we don’t tolerate such deviant behaviour. And I would have expected better from the two of you.”

Kim’s gaze found her shoes as she listened to the beratement. _Is what we just did so wrong? It didn’t feel wrong…_

“This is an upstanding community, Laddies,” Mr Barkin continued, “and we keep things on the straight and narrow…”

 _Oh no, I’m going to get the book thrown at me for this. I’ll have to go home to mom and dad and explain that I’ve been expelled because my best girl kissed me._ Thoughts of a similar nature flew through Kim’s mind as the teacher continued to preach about how the two of them should be setting an example of good practice in both the school and the wider community. And each and every word slowly caused a fear to mount; that what she and Lisa had just done in the gym had been wrong.

When the man paused for breath, Lisa took both him and Kim by surprise when she butt in, “but, Sir, it’s not wrong for one girl to kiss another.”

Mr Barkin’s attention immediately zeroed in on the other girl as he boomed, “boys like girls, boys kiss girls and boys mate with girls, Richards. End of discussion.”

Kim looked between the intimidating teacher and her best girl and could not believe it when Lisa found the strength to utter a scathing rebuttal. “It’s called homosexuality, Mr Barkin. There are girls in the world that don’t like boys and my parents told me it’s perfectly natural!”

“It is not natural!” the teacher boomed as he slammed one of his meaty fists on the desk. “ **Boys** kiss **girls** , Richards. End of discussion!”

Lisa shot up onto her feet and yelled, “if Kim and I want to kiss each other, you can’t stop us!” her clenched fists shaking.

“Maybe I can’t,” Mr Barkin said in a slightly sly manner, “however, I’m sure your parents won’t be happy when I tell them what you were doing and that they will put a stop to it.”

A tidal wave of fear crashed down over Kim. _Oh no! Please don’t call mom and dad!_

“That won’t make a difference,” Lisa declared, sounding so sure of herself. “My parents already know and told me that it’s perfectly natural for me to like girls. And Kim’s will say the same, right, Kim.”

Kim’s cheeks burned bright red and she wished she could just melt into her chair as both individuals turned to look at her. She felt beads of sweat form on her forehead under the intensity of the stares she received. She’d not even had time to process what had happened back in the gym and here were Lisa and Mr Barkin forcing her to make a choice between the normality being preached by the teacher and something she hadn’t the faintest clue about coming from her best girl.

“We’ll see about that, Richards,” Mr Barkin said firmly, sounding sure that the girl was bluffing. He then focused his intimidating stare upon Kim. “What’s it going to be, Possible? Do you want me to phone home and tell your parents about this incident?”

“Come on, Kim, if that’s the worst he can do, we have nothing to fear,” Lisa said.

“Quiet, Richards,” the teacher snapped, “you’re in enough trouble as it is.”

While Lisa sounded so sure of herself, so fearless, Kim was practically shaking in her sneakers. Mr Barkin’s lecture having been enough to put the fear of god into her over the issue. If this sort of ‘deviant’ behaviour was, as he claimed, so wrong and reviled by society, she could not have her parents find out about this incident. _I can’t have him phone home and tell mom and dad about this… I just can’t._ In the end, despite the fact that Lisa was her best girl and sounded so certain, Kim could not choose something she had no clue about.

“No, Sir,” she replied, unable to raise her gaze from her shoes.

“Kim!” Lisa declared in alarm. “How can you just blindly conform to this homophobic philistine’s viewpoint?”

“I’m sorry, Lisa,” she whispered. “But I can’t have my parents find out about this. What happened back in the gym… it was a mistake.”

“I always knew you were a smart girl, Possible,” Mr Barkin said. “However, remember, boy’s like girls, boys kiss girls and boys mate with girls.”

Kim glumly nodded her head. While blindly agreeing with the teacher’s viewpoint was going to save her skin, she could not help but feel as though she had just betrayed her best girl.

This was quickly hammered home when Lisa said, “Kim, how can you say that was a mistake? I know you felt something. That’s why you kissed me back.”

“It was a mistake,” she mumbled again, unable to make eye contact with the girl. _It has to have been a mistake._

Mr Barkin then clapped a hand on the shoulder of her horrified looking friend. “Let’s go, Richards,” he said, before turning to look at Kim. “You can go home, Possible.” Mr Barkin then gave her a firm look. “And remember, you like boys, Possible.”

“I like boys,” she whispered.

Kim sat and watched the man escort her best girl to the door, however, before they managed to leave the office, the scene froze around her.

 _“Well, I can certainly see why you chose that draconian lummox around which to drape your homophobic thoughts,”_ Lisa said from where she had materialised in Mr Barkin’s chair. _“Big, booming and straighter than a rod made from unbendable mad science steel.”_

Kim lowered her head, _he was the first person to even address the issue of sexuality. He made me so scared that what we did in the gym was wrong, that I let it dictate my actions. He was also the one that told me that I like boys._

Lisa let out a mocking laugh, _“did he? Are you so sure you’re not just trying to pile everything upon him?”_

Kim opened her mouth to say, _“of course he did,”_ however, she stopped dead in her tracks.

She received a contemptuous smile from her former best girl, _“I’ll admit. It does sound exactly the sort of thing he would say, but we both know he didn’t. He simply gave you the whole boys kiss girls spiel. In fact, he wasn’t the only one to say that to you.”_

 _No, he wasn’t,_ she agreed. _However, I know that. I don’t need a reminder of what happened next._

 _“And why might that be?”_ Lisa mocked. _“You’ve already betrayed me, watched Barkin haul me off to call my parents and started to suppress what you felt back in the gymnasium. What more can there be for you to be scared of?”_

Tears started to form in Kim’s eyes as she listened to the words of derision. How she wished what Lisa said was true. That her moment of weakness inside Mr Barkin’s office had been the end of the matter. Except she knew full well that this was only the beginning of her shame. _Please, Lisa,_ she begged. _I’m so sorry for what I did to you. I don’t need to see any more._

 _“Oh, no, no, no, Kimmie. A pathetic excuse for a human being such as yourself doesn’t deserve to get off this light,”_ Lisa said as she gave her a nasty smile. _“So, why don’t you run along home to mom and dad and remember what happened next.”_

With all control of the situation out with her hands, Kim could do nothing to stop Mr Barkin’s office from melting away around her to reveal her parent’s home. Still seated, instead of being in front of the teacher’s desk, she found herself at the dining table; a stack of textbooks in front of her and now dressed in her old Club Banana blue capris and green vest.

 _“You know, I used to enjoy sitting around this table as we worked on our homework,”_ Lisa said airily from the chair beside her. _“Your mom made the best cookies.”_

 _Please, Lisa,_ she begged again, _I don’t want to be reminded of this._

_“Why? Because you know fine well that Mr Barkin didn’t manage to stop you questioning what had happened back in the gym?”_

_Yes,_ she whispered but could do nothing to stop the scene from starting and her dad from walking through from the kitchen.

“Are you ok, Kimmie-cub? You’ve been stuck on that same problem since I last saw you,” her dad said kindly, as he gazed down at the notepad in front of her.

“I’m fine, dad,” she lied, not sure what else to say. _I can’t possibly tell him what happened at school today._

The man gave her a sideways look. “Kim, I taught you all about equations of motion and the physics behind rocket launches when you were just a kid. We both know you could solve these basic school level problems in your sleep.” Much to her trepidation, her dad sat down beside her. “What’s bothering you, Kimmie-cub?”

While she had typically spent more quality time with her dad, it was normally her mom who she had heart to hearts with. Unfortunately, she was still at work. And, while not as observant as her mom, her dad could still often tell when something was wrong with her, especially if she was sitting in front of a series of unsolved physics problems that he had taught her all about years ago.

“And isn’t Lisa usually here on a Thursday, so you can help her out with physics?” he then added.

“She got into trouble at school,” Kim replied glumly, knowing that she had to stick to some version of the truth. For her ability to effectively lie, especially to either of her parents was almost non-existent to her fifteen-year-old self.

Her dad scratched his chin. “Hmm, overnight detention. Not sure I approve of that. However, that sounds like the sort of idea your Mr Barkin would implement. He does seem to be quite a stickler for the rules and all about discipline.”

Kim sighed, “Mr Barkin hasn’t implemented overnight detention, Dad. However, I’m not sure Lisa will want to talk to me again, let alone come over to study.”

Her father laid a hand on her shoulder. “Kim, did you and Lisa get into some sort of scuffle?”

She hesitated before replying, “not exactly.” It was the truth, but she knew it would only lead to more questions.”

“Then what happened?” her dad asked kindly.

“We…” she started the sentence but quickly trailed off. _Should I tell him what happened, that Lisa kissed me…?_ This same thought had been going through her head ever since she had arrived home. For despite what Mr Barkin had said, she could not quite shake the fact that the kiss had not felt wrong. Only the fear he had put into her about it being ‘deviant’ behaviour **and** of how certain he had been that her parents would not be happy on finding out about it, resulted in her quickly thinking, _oh god, I can’t do that. The very idea of my kissing a boy is a taboo subject with him._ When her dad looked expectantly at her, Kim finally replied, “she disagreed with Mr Barkin and expected me to take her side.”

“But doing so would have gotten you in trouble,” her father said for her.

Kim nodded glumly, “yeah. Does that make me a bad person?”

“A Possible never gets detention, Kimmie-cub… well, except for your brothers. Those little rascals must get that from your mother’s side. You did the right thing. And if your friend Lisa is getting herself in enough trouble to merit detention, then you might want to think about avoiding bad eggs like that.”

“Dad, she’s not a bad egg. And Ron gets detention from Mr Barkin all the time.”

Her father looked contemplatively for a moment, before he replied, “hmm, Ronald to eh? Maybe I need to review your friends' list and weed out the trouble makers.”

“Dad!” she exclaimed, giving him a firm look “there is nothing wrong with my friends' list.” She sighed internally. Sometimes she needed to remind her father that she was sensible enough to choose good friends and did not need him to approve them.

Her dad quickly backpedalled, “ok, Kimmie-cub. I’ trust your judgment on your friends, However,” he gave her a pointed look, “if any boy that is your friend becomes a boyfriend, I’ll have him put in a rocket and fired into a black hole. Understand?”

Kim sighed, “yes, Dad. I get it; no boyfriends.”

Her father gave her shoulder a light squeeze. “That’s my girl.” He then stood up, kissed her on the forehead and left her to do her homework.

The scene froze as her dad left the room and Kim once more found herself staring at her younger self, with Lisa standing right beside her. _Can we move on?_ she asked hopefully. _I don’t need to see anything else here._

 _“Really? Have you forgotten so easily that this wasn’t the most important thing the two of you talked about that night?”_ Lisa mocked.

Kim sighed, _I didn’t do any of my homework that night. Instead, I sat and pondered what happened in the gym and whether or not Mr Barkin had been right about homosexuality._

_“Yes, you did. And eventually, you actually started to question his draconian viewpoint. To the point that you needed to ask someone about it.”_

_Normally I would have waited to talk to mom about such things, however, she wasn’t going to be home until after midnight; after I would have been in bed and it couldn’t wait until morning. I needed an answer._

The clock on the wall fast-forward three hours, before it finally slowed down to normal speed, just as her dad walked back into the room. Now seated in the blue capris of her fifteen-year-old self, Kim looked up at the man and said, “Dad, can I ask you something?”

“If it’s about when you can have a boyfriend, the answer is after you graduate college,” her father replied in the tone he always used when it came to the subject of her and boys.

“It’s not about when I can have a boyfriend,” she said quickly.

“Good, because if I find out you’ve been kissing that Walter Nelson again, he’ll need more than an orthodontist.”

“Yeah, I know. Rocket, black hole.” She hesitated before then asking, “I was actually wondering, is it ok for girls not to like boys?”

The smile she received from her father told her that he had misunderstood the question. “It’s good if you don’t like boys at the moment because it’s going to stay that way until after college.”

She took a deep breath but tried not to let it show. _Ok, Kim, you need to tell a version of the truth, but not enough of it that he starts asking questions._ “Mr Barkin took social education today and was talking about relationships. However, he only spoke about boys liking girls…”

The expression on her dad’s face soured somewhat, but he did not interrupt.

“…however, when Lisa asked him about boys liking boys and girls liking girls, she was told homosexuality was deviant behaviour and not something that should be practised in decent society.”

“Is this why she got overnight detention?” her dad asked.

Kim couldn’t help but laugh slightly. “Dad, she didn’t get overnight detention. But yes, this is what she argued with him over and expected me to take her side on. And while I didn’t want to argue with Mr Barkin, I can’t help but wonder if we should be more tolerant of other people’s life choices. Is it ok for boys to kiss other boys and girls to kiss other girls?”

Her father sighed and looked as though he would rather not answer the question. However, since her mom wasn’t here for him to defer to so he could hastily run from the room, he was forced to answer. “Your Mr Barkin sounds like the sort of man who’s never strayed too far from a conservative home. And you’ll find his viewpoint echoed around much of our community. But your mother and I have always taught you that you should always try to be respectful of other people’s choices.” Her father paused for a moment and his expression firmed up somewhat, “however, there will be no kissing girls for you… ever.”

Kim had to stifle a gulp on hearing him say this and did not need to ask any further questions; she had her answer. _Oh god, I can’t ever let mom and dad find out that Lisa kissed me._ She then nodded in acceptance and said, “thanks, Dad.”

Her father gave her a grateful smile and she knew he was glad not to have to answer any more questions on the subject. “Go to bed soon, Kimmie-cub,” the man then said before leaving the room.

The scene froze and Kim once more found herself at the mercy of the part of her brain that was represented by Lisa.

 _“Well, if Mr Barkin didn’t manage to fully quash your homosexuality, your dad surely just did,”_ the girl said in amusement.

Kim glumly looked at her feet. _Maybe if I’d spoken to mom, I would have got a different answer. Although I’m not sure I could have told her the truth either. And looking back on it, dad might just have been being dad with his whole, “there will be no kissing girls for you… ever,” routine. I can’t count how many times he said the exact same thing about me kissing boys; including the ever part._

 _“Isn’t hindsight such a wonderful thing?”_ Lisa said sarcastically. _“Unfortunately, you weren’t done there, were you Kim?”_

 _…no…_ she replied in anguish. _Lisa, I am so sorry,_ she then added quickly.

_“And so you should be. Instead of either accepting what your Dad and Mr Barkin had to say on the matter or, better yet, actually coming to talk to the one person you knew could give you an alternative viewpoint, you had to go and talk to the person you shared everything with.”_

_I didn’t realise what would happen,_ Kim cried out. _I never wanted to hurt you._

 _“But you did it anyway,”_ Lisa spat. _“Shall we go pay that particular memory a visit?”_

 _No, please, no,_ Kim begged, tears welling up in her eyes. _I don’t want to go through that again._

_“Tough!”_

Utterly helpless, Kim could only watch as the scene changed and she found herself in yet another familiar place; Bueno Nacho.

 _“Not that you should need it, but here’s a reminded of what happened that day at school. You avoided me like the plague and we all had to sit through a sex education class with Mr Barkin, because of an ‘incident’ that occurred the previous day between two un-named students,”_ Lisa said, just before the scene began to play.

Kim watched from where she sat in their usual booth as Ron wandered over with a tray laden full of what looked like half the Bueno Nacho menu.

“Can you believe, Mr Barkin!” her best friend exclaimed as he sat down. “Giving all of us a lecture on why boys like girls, all because two people caused an incident that no one has even heard about. You know, I bet it was that Josh Mankey and one of his friends. He totally seems like the sort.”

“Ron, it wasn’t Josh,” Kim replied in annoyance, already fed up of her friend’s repeated attempts to discredit her crush in any way shape or form he could; even though she had only told him about it two weeks ago.

“How would you know that?” Ron asked, he then stared into her eyes. “Kim…” he began and as always in these situations, just when it seemed like he was going to figure the whole thing out, her best friend said something utterly ridiculous, “…have you been applying the thumbscrews to everyone in school without me!”

“No, Ron, I’ve not been trying to torture it out of anyone,” Kim said as she shook her head, then added, “in fact, I’m not really interested. Shouldn’t whoever was involved be entitled to some privacy?”

“No,” Ron declared incredulously. “Kim, because of those people, we all had to sit through two hours of Mr Barkin talking about how penises pair with vaginas,” the rising pitch of her best friend’s voice drew a look from everyone else in the restaurant. “I did not get out of bed today to sit and listen to Barkin talk about **that** for **two hours!** Especially if it was Josh Mankey’s fault.”

On the table, amidst a bowl of nacho’s, Rufus looked up at her and nodded in agreement, “uh-hu, uh-hu.”

“Ron, it **wasn’t** Josh Mankey.”

“Then who was it, Kim, answer me that. Because until someone does, I’m fingering Mankey.”

Time stopped once more and in front of her, Ron was replaced by Lisa. _“Was the honour of your crush worth selling your friend down the river, Kim?”_ the girl asked with a sneer.

_I had no idea what would happen if I told him. Besides, this wasn’t just about you… I was still confused about the whole situation and needed to talk to someone with whom I wouldn’t need to lie._

_“Seriously, Kim? You’d been best friends with Mr Loudmouth there since preschool and had no idea what he would do? Not only that, but you also didn’t even think of talking to me.”_

Kim stared at the tray of nachos on the table. _I didn’t anticipate him yelling it so the whole restaurant would hear… or who might be within earshot…. and I was so scared of what might happen if I talked to you._

Lisa vanished and Ron instantaneously replaced her. Even though it was happening inside her own head, sitting across from her former best friend felt slightly weird, but also brought about a sense of longing. _Even though he was a bastard that night four weeks ago, I think I still miss him as a friend._ She had no time to lament her loss further as the scene began to play once more.

Kim raised a hand to cover the right-hand side of her mouth and said quietly, “it was Lisa and…”

however, she did not manage to incriminate herself before Ron yelled, “WHAT! LISA! She’s the one responsible for me having to sit through two hours of Barkin showing us diagrams of penises and vaginas!”

“Ron, keep your voice down,” she quickly hissed, but the damage had been done. Unbeknownst to her at the time, Bonnie had been making her way outside and heard Ron’s yell perfectly.

“Wait a minute,” Ron then said and looked at her pointedly, “how do you know it was Lisa?”

Kim hesitated before she said, “because the girl she kissed was me.”

This time, she managed to grab Ron and shove her hand over his mouth as he yelled a muffled, “what!” She remained like this for several moments, until she knew the initial shock had passed, before releasing him.

“What!” her best friend then hissed at her. “Why on earth were you **kissing** Lisa?”

“I didn’t plan on it,” Kim whispered. “She seemed unhappy and I sat down to talk to her. We spoke about boys and she started going on about not liking them, only I didn’t realise that she was trying to tell me that she actually likes girls. Then next thing I knew, she was kissing me and… I sort of kissed her back,” she cringed.

Before she could stop him, Ron was on his feet and yelling, “what!” again.

“Ron, will you settle down?”

“No, no, no, no!” her best friend exclaimed in horror. “Kim, this isn’t ok. You like **boys!** ”

She hesitated a moment, remembering the slight spark she had felt inside when Lisa had kissed her and how her body had automatically started to kiss her back. “…well, I…”

“Kim, you like boys!” Ron declared again.

She met his gaze and had never before seen him so certain about something or so insistent.

“Say it with me, Kim. I like **boys**!”

“…I like… boys?” she said tentatively, but the look she received told her that her response had not been good enough.

“Come on, Kim, don’t do this to me. Say it, I like **boys**.”

“I like boys.”

“That’s better, but one more time, with feeling.”

“I like **boys!** ”

Kim stood and stared, open-mouthed at her fifteen-year-old self and at her former best friend. Of all the details she had tried to suppress in regards to this whole mess, this had been the one she had forced down deepest. It hadn’t, despite what she might have thought… might have wanted to believe, been Mr Barkin who had forced the, ‘I like boys,’ mantra onto her. Nor had it been her father, who had point-blank told her there would be no kissing girls for her… ever. Rather, it had been the person whose opinion she had always valued above all others; Ron, that had made her say those words over and over until they were ingrained in her memory.

 _“What, forget all about that little detail, did you, Kim?”_ Lisa mocked from beside her. _“That it was your best friend, not Mr Barkin, who told you point-blank that you like boys. That it’s been his words you’ve been repeating to yourself over and over since this whole thing began.”_

 _It was Ron,_ Kim said, more to herself, as she tried to get her head around this revelation. _Ron was the one who put an end to any thoughts I might have had about my sexuality back then._

 _“And society then made sure you never questioned it again,”_ Lisa chipped in. _“At least, not until Shego got her hooks into you. She managed to do what I couldn’t… what you never even gave me the chance to do.”_

 _That’s not fair,_ Kim cried. _I never meant for Bonnie to find out that you had been one of the two people who had been caught having an ‘indecent’ moment._

_“Maybe not. But you’d purposefully avoided me for the whole day before then and then chose to both talk to and listen to Ron; instead of me. And we both know that’s not even the worst of it, Kim. Don’t we.”_

_I’m so, so sorry, Lisa,_ Kim said in the sincerest voice she had ever used. _I never meant for any of it to happen._

_“No, you just chose to kick me when I was at my lowest.”_

Kim could not refute the claim. While she might have managed to bury the truth about who had instilled the, _“I like boys,”_ mantra in her, what she had done to Lisa was far too big, far too shameful for her to have ever truly have hidden from. _I know and I am so sorry for what I did to you._

_“Are you really, Kim. Or is this newfound guilt simply because you can’t stand the idea that you’re a massive hypocrite?”_

_I always felt guilty about it,_ Kim replied. _That’s why I tried to bury the memory. What I did to you was the most shameful thing I’ve ever done. It was unforgivable…_

_“Well, isn’t that nice. Now you get to suffer it all over again.”_

_No!_ Kim wailed. _Please, not that. Anything but that. I don’t want to relive that day._ But it was too late. Gone were the tables and booths of Bueno Nacho and once more she stood in the Middleton High gymnasium; again, dressed in her cheerleading outfit. Sitting on the bleachers were the rest of the squad, fronted by Bonnie and observing from the doorway, Mr Barkin.

 _“Do you remember this, Kim?”_ Lisa asked from beside her. Like she had been in every instance, she too wore her cheerleading outfit. Only everything about her appearance had changed. Instead of being bright blue and with a sparkle to them, the girl’s eyes were sullen and puffy from numerous bouts of tears and her cheeks blotchy. Her once long blonde hair had been cut short, as a result of having had multiple wads of gum spat into it. However, worse still was the skin that her uniform did not cover. Her arms and legs were covered in bruises at various points of healing. Souvenirs from the various attacks she had suffered ever since Bonnie had made it known to the student body that she had been one of those caught acting ‘indecently’. _“And to think, no matter what they did to me, I never once told them what they wanted to know; the identity of the other girl.”_

 _Lisa, I never meant for any of that to happen,_ Kim repeated for the umpteenth time.

_“But you never did anything about it. You purposefully avoided me because you were too scared about how people might start treating you; scared for your precious reputation. But most of all, you were scared that if you actually spoke to me, you’d realise the truth.”_

_I should never have abandoned you, Lisa. You were my best girl and you are right; I was too scared for myself that I allowed all those horrible things to happen to you._

_“I could have forgiven all that, Kim. But what you did here was worse than all of what I’d already suffered combined.”_

Kim could only stare at the scene before her. After the weekend and the stories about Lisa being gay having spread throughout the school like wildfire, when it had come time for the first cheer practice of the next week, the entire squad, fronted by Bonnie had presented her with an ultimatum. Either she kick Lisa off of the squad, or all of them would quit. While she had initially refused, Bonnie had politely reminded her that they had the regional championship the following week and that if she and the ‘lezzie’ wanted to humiliate themselves with whatever uncoordinated saps would be willing to cheer with them, then she was welcome to do so. The decision had been agonising. She’d not long been made squad captain and her desire to avoid complete humiliation combined with her insatiable need to win, along with a fear of spending any time with Lisa and under the pressure from every other member of the squad, had caused her to throw her principals out the window.

“K…K…Kim, p…p…please,” Lisa sobbed in front of her, tears now streaming down her face. “This is a…a…all I h…h…have l…l…left…”

“I’m so sorry, Lisa,” Kim said, trying to sound as apologetic as she could, “but the rest of the squad aren’t even willing to change unless I ask you to leave.” It had been the best substitute for, ‘kick you off,’ that she had been able to come up with.

“K…K…Kim, p…p…please d…d…don't d…d…do th…th…this…”

Kim glanced over her shoulder and gave a pleading look to the rest of the squad, but met with uncompromising stares. “I’m sorry, Lisa. But the school has a place at the regional championships…” she trailed off as the girl’s tears intensified.

Lisa managed to stabilise her voice enough to cry out, “a place which I helped us get,” and stared intently at Kim.

The girl’s words hit her like a hammer blow and she could not respond.

When she failed to say anything, Lisa then cried, “fine, I’ll quit! But I thought you were different, Kim. That you would understand… that you could do anything!” Her former best girl then turned on her heel and ran from the gymnasium. It had been the last time they had ever spoken. Come the holidays, Lisa had left Middleton high and not returned.

From behind her, Bonnie then said, “now that the lezzie’s gone, let’s go get changed, girls.”

Kim, now drowning in an icy bucket of guilt and shame, turned and watched the other squad members head off towards the changing rooms, leaving her alone, well, almost alone. For there was to be one final barb in events.

“You did the right thing, Possible,” Mr Barkin said as he moved to stand beside her. “The school’s got to uphold its reputation and that includes at the regional cheerleading championship. Remember, we fly straight as the arrow.”

It had been a horrible thing to hear at the time, but witnessing it all over again proved too much for Kim to bear and she fell to her knees and broke down in a flood of tears. The very idea of being congratulated for doing something so morally wrong felt beyond abhorrent. _I am a horrible excuse for a human being,_ she thought but received no reply. No scathing remark or commentary. Instead, she found herself staring into a sea of black, the scene from her memory having dissolved around her.

Having seen the memories that had defined her view on her own sexuality and the despicable things she had done as a result of her own fear, Kim now knew exactly why she had been unable to accept what Shego had been trying to tell her. Why her own mind had created a monster that resembled Mr Barkin to try and keep her on the straight and narrow. For the idea that she could be gay, after what she had both directly and indirectly done to Lisa because of her former best girl’s own sexuality, had been too much for her to bear.

 _“So, now you know, Kim,”_ the voice of Lisa then whispered in her ear. _“Now you know the root cause of your fear. Not that it’ll do you any good. In fact, I think the knowledge will only make things worse for you.”_

 _No,_ Kim cried out, struggling to stop her internalised tears. _I… I…_

Lisa let out a cruel laugh, _“you can’t do it, can you? Even after what happened with Shego today and after seeing all this, you still can’t say those words.”_

_I… I… I…_

_“In fact, I bet you’d rather allow these two,”_ at the girl’s command, Shego and the Barkin-dragon appeared and began to fight once more, _“to keep fighting over you like you were a juicy hunk of meat **and** live with the guilt, shame and fear from what you did, than accept the truth.” _

Kim clenched her fists and screwed up her eyes. _No, I can’t keep going like this,_ she thought. _I made a mistake back then. A stupid, horrible mistake, that I can never undo._ The memory of her time with Shego earlier that day then filled her mind and she recalled with perfect clarity the spark she had felt… the same one she had felt all those years ago with Lisa. _I felt it back then and my fear allowed other people to tell me who I am and who I should like._ She felt a warmth inside her as she basked in the memory of how right it had felt while she had been within Shego’s embrace. _But I’m not the same person anymore and I can’t let it rule my life. I won’t let it rule my life! I’m Kim Possible and I can do anything._ She took in a steadying breath through her nose and let it out through her mouth. Rising to her feet, she then fixed Lisa with a firm stare. _No,_ she said and for the first time since she had encountered the girl inside her head, she felt somewhat sure of herself. _I can do it, because I’m not you, not anymore._

In front of her, the apparition in her mind that was Lisa, changed, like it was shedding a skin and she came face to face with her fifteen-year-old self. _I couldn’t do it back then because I was too scared. I accept that. In fact, I’m still scared about all of this, about what it means for me, but if I don’t accept the truth, I’ll never be able to overcome it._

Her younger self smiled at her and said only two words, _“thank you,”_ and then faded from view, like a haunted spirit that had finally, after years of waiting been laid to rest.

Kim opened her eyes and took a deep breath. It had been a long hard road for her to get to here, one that, until tonight, she had not realised had started over five years ago. Through tear-stained eyes and in a shaky voice, she said out loud for the first time, “I like girls.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I think this is deep breath time again.
> 
> For me, writing this chapter was somewhat a labour of love, as I finally got to tell a story that has been going around my brain for weeks. However, it was not easy by any means. Not only did I have to make the decision to write this all as one chapter, instead of space it out over several different scenes over multiple days for Kim, I also had to decide how I wanted to write it, as I was caught between three different ways of telling it. My options had been either, write the events as a full-on flashback chapter, have Kim simply talk over what happened with Lisa or the option I finally chose, which was to have Kim relive each of the memories, but add breaks into the scenes to allow the two of them to pass commentary on events. In the end, I think I chose the right option. However, there was also a desire for me to withhold these memories until Kim was able to sit and tell Shego all about them. Only I felt that she needed to process it all by herself first and that we needed to see her do it. Ultimately, I am so happy that Kim has finally accepted that she likes girls. I can't tell you how much I was looking to forward to finally being able to write that last line, or how thrilling it was to actually do it. 
> 
> In regards to the rest of the update, my portrayal of GJ is based on two things. First, my personal dislike for such organisations, as I feel they all too often have questionable means when it comes to their pursuit of 'the greater good' and second, the way in which the world has changed since the Lorwardian invasion. In the finale of Kim Possible, we see a huge amount of damage being done to the world as a result of the invasion. Thus, I felt it appropriate to portray the world as being in a very bad state, with the global economy in the tank, every country struggling to rebuild and a lot of individuals trying their hand a supervillainy. GJ is thus struggling to cope, to the point that they have strayed from their ideals and become more brutal. And a desperate desire on Dr Director's part to bring Kim into their ranks. The idea of GJ becoming more brutal then leads directly into what we saw with Shego in The Violent Sequence.
> 
> For several weeks now, I have been working towards this particular point in the story and during that time I made what I feel is a very important decision. So, without further ado, I finally get to say: End of Season One. (lol, since Kim Possible is a TV show, I thought season one was more appropriate than book one). 
> 
> I also feel that the timing of this is very appropriate. After having written 200K+ words of this 'one-shot' in under three months, I am starting to feel a little bit of fatigue set in. Also, I have now gone well beyond the scope of the plan I drew up after chapter four and pretty much been writing the last couple of updates off the cuff. And while I already have a plan for the next handful of chapters and how Kim and Shego's relationship reaches its next phase, I don't yet have a concrete long term plan for how it is going to reach the endgame I have decided upon. So, with that in mind, I hope you all understand why I am deciding to take a couple of weeks off, in order to have a think about how I want this story to progress, how I want the relationship between Kim and Shego to develop and how I am going to move it towards the eventual endgame. And to allow me the chance to recharge my batteries a bit and maybe play some Demon's Souls or even Sekiro, as I don't even have it yet. However, do be assured that I am far from done with these characters and have no plans to abandon them where they are and go and write something else.
> 
> This is the point where I would really love to hear your opinions. What have you all liked about this story thus far? Is there anything you've disliked? And, perhaps most importantly, is there anything you would like to see in season two? As I have no definitive plans for it yet, what sort of relationship would you like to see develop between Kim and Shego? I would love to hear all your thoughts, even any gripes you might have and as always, I promise to be considerate to everyone's opinions. 
> 
> Finally, I need to say a massive thank you to each and every one of you. The positive response I have received with all the comments, kudos and the number of you who have subscribed to this story (67 at the time of writing) has been far and beyond what I would ever have expected. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all, you've been terrific. I have not decided yet whether I will start a new story for season two, or if I'll simply continue to update this one. However, I will make a post here to let you all know if I decided to go with the former. Thank you all once again and I hope to see you all in a couple of weeks for the start of season two of And You And I. 
> 
> Warmest regards and eternal thanks  
> Niaxi


	41. A note from the author

Hello everyone. First, I need to say a massive thank you to everyone for the response I received for the last update. The number of comments and kudos I received was beyond what I would ever have imagined. Furthermore, the sheer level of positivity from all your comments just blew me away. I am absolutely thrilled that so many of you enjoyed season 1 and are eagerly awaiting the start of season 2. Unfortunately, for all of us, this is not it, I have only been on a break for a few days after all, lol. However, given that there has been interest in the uncut version of The Violent Sequence both here and on fanfiction, I decided to edit it and post it. Obviously, if you did not like the watered-down version, I would advise you to steer clear of it. For the rest of you, if you are prepared to see more horrible things happen to Shego, then please follow the link below.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25372366

Thank you all again and I will hopefully see you all with the first part of season 2 in a couple of weeks.

Warmest regards

Nixai


	42. Interlude: Mother will always find out where you've been

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, long time no see. I hope that you are all well. Before I begin, a massive thank you to everyone who has left me Kudos, bookmarked/subscribed or left me a comment thus far. I am so grateful to all of you and especially for all the kind words I've received in the comments. It really means a lot to me and gives me that extra boost to keep writing this story.
> 
> Ok, so I'm back... sort of. What I want to share with you all today is not the first part of season two (yeah, I know I suck, lol), but another short interlude that I wrote during season one. While I did not post it at the time, for various reasons, I want to share it with you now, as I feel it gives some interesting insight into the character in questions POV. This time we're catching up with Ann, on the night before the big showdown inside Dr Drakken's volcano lair (chapter thirty-four: dance on a volcano). Like two of the earlier chapters that have heavily involved Ann, this one also takes its title from the lyrics to the Pink Floyd song Mother; from their 1979 epic, The Wall. Lol, if there are any more chapters that prominently feature her, I'm eventually going to run out of lyrics to use. So, without any further delay, enjoy.

Ann Possible sat alone in the family living room. Her husband had gone to bed half an hour ago; while her sons had been unceremoniously sent to their room several hours ago. It had been one of those rare instances where she had genuinely lost her temper and yelled at them. The incident itself had been fairly innocuous, at least by the standards set by her children. They had been out in the garden, fine-tuning their new ‘upgraded’ auto-turret, when the device had inadvertently shot one of the windows. It had done no damage, as the respective blast shutter had closed in time to stop it, however, in a normal household, breaking a window merited punishment and while her window had not actually been broken, the action would have resulted in it under ‘normal’ circumstances. So, she’d got up from the sofa, headed outside and called Jim and Tim out of their respective hiding places with her, _“if you don’t make your butts appear right now, I’ll triple your punishment,”_ voice. Ann had then proceeded to chastise the boys for their actions, like any normal mother would, only to, as she often did, invoke her daughter’s name and tell them that they should act more like her. Needless to say, both the act and the response had backfired superbly on all three of them, for her sons had been quick to suggest that meant they could go around causing grievous bodily harm to supervillains. At the mention of Kim’s latest exploits, she had lost it. Yelling at both twins, she had sent them to their room and grounded them for a week. Harsh, yes. Fair, definitely not.

Ann sighed as she absentmindedly swirled her glass of red wine. She would probably rescind Jim and Tim’s punishment come morning and that would be the end of the matter; both she and her sons would quickly forget the incident had ever occurred. However, her daughter was a completely different story. Her eyes scanned the front page of a national newspaper, one of several strewn beside her on the sofa. It depicted a photograph of a bloody and bruised Motor Ed; with the headline, _“Brutality is Possible!”_ Aside from a description of the villain’s injuries, the bulk of the article was a bunch of bogus and skewed statistics that supposedly backed up the view that Kim’s form had been in decline for months and that this incident was simply the natural result of a hero who could no longer get the job done properly. Ann neither cared for nor believed a single word of it. There was something wrong with her daughter, but it had nothing to do with her ability to do her job.

She took a sip of her wine; a full-bodied Australian Shiraz, as her gaze passed over a second paper that detailed how Kim had shattered a Mr Phaze’s femur and to the printed pages of a local Californian evening paper she’d had passed onto her from Wade. Adorning its front page, a picture from a security camera that showed her daughter dragging Señor Senior, Junior and his fiancé, Bonnie Rockwaller, to a police van by their respective hair. While scant on details, it was clear from the photograph that Junior was out cold.

 _What is eating at you so much that you’ve resorted to such violent methods?_ she internally asked a non-existent Kim for the umpteenth time that night and the god knows how many since reading the article about Motor Ed on Tuesday. Unfortunately, while she did not know the answer, the question always led back to the same subject; Shego. While her daughter had outright refused to talk about it and even went as far as to claim that nothing had occurred between the two of them, Ann knew better. The manner of Kim’s rebuttal, the recent engagements between the pair, motherly instinct and the words she had overheard her daughter say in her sleep after her defeat to the villainess, all told her that something out with the norm had occurred between the pair. And she had not needed Wade to tell her what Kim’s real intent had been this week. _What could possibly have happened between the two of you, Kim?_

Neatly, Ann stacked the newspapers together and sat them down on the coffee table. They would reveal no more information that she did not already know. Reclining back; her feet tucked under her bum, she took another sip of her wine and recalled the words she had heard Kim utter in her delirium, _“but I really do want us to be friends.”_ By themselves, they were completely innocuous and she would have thought nothing more of them, had it not been for the name her daughter had uttered mere moments later, _“Shego.”_ At the time, Ann had quickly brushed it aside, for Kim had been in need of her medical skills, but afterwards, as her daughter’s two-week stay had dragged on and her anger increased, it had started to play on her mind. _Is it completely beyond the realms of possibility that you tried to befriend Shego?_

Ann cast her mind back five years; to the start of Kim’s sophomore year, to the point at which Shego had entered her life. From what had been shared at the dinner table, it had been clear that it had not taken long for a rivalry to form between the two. At times it had felt like her daughter had a new story every week about a dual she’d had with the woman. Ann had even witnessed some of them herself and not failed to notice the extra energy Kim had exuded. And while she could not say for certain on Shego’s part, she knew that her daughter had a lot of respect for her rival. However, the villainess’ actions, of having purposefully saved Kim’s life on three occasions now, strongly suggested that the respect was mutual. Had that been the extent of their relationship, hero and villain who clashed on a frequent basis, Ann would have considered the possibility of them ever being friends… well, impossible, even for a Possible. Unfortunately, there was an unusual twist in that particular story.

During Kim’s senior year, something had happened to Shego that had flipped her personality and so she had become, for lack of a better term, good. And the pair had almost instantly become friends. To the point that the woman; going by the name Miss Go had stayed right here in the Possible house. It had been almost frightening to watch. Over the course of a few days, the pair had almost started to live in one another’s pockets, such had been the closeness of the bond that had formed. Ann had known since her daughter had started pre-school that she did not make friends, at least not close ones, easily. In fact, she could count on one hand how many had ever fallen into that category, Ron, Monique, Wade and… Lisa. That last one being a rabbit hole in itself. But none of those friendships, even though they had started easily enough, had managed to reach the same level of depth that had formed between Kim and Miss Go in a matter of days. In fact, she would wager that only Ron had held a deeper friendship with her daughter and that had taken years to form. Unfortunately, within a week, Miss Go had reverted to being Shego and the friendship had been over. Over the following weeks, while Kim had tried to hide it, Ann had been able to tell that she dearly missed the woman’s friendship. Like she had finally known what it was like to have a kindred spirit, only for it to be taken away again.

 _That was not the first friendship you suddenly lost, was it, Kim?_ It had been a long time since Ann had even thought about Lisa and the friendship between the girl and her daughter. Monique’s predecessor, for lack of a better term. While Ron had always been Kim’s outright best friend, she’d also had a best girl friend too. As there were some things you just didn’t talk to a boy about. That’s where Lisa (and later Monique) had come in. She and Kim had shared a good friendship that had suddenly ended, not long before the former had moved school. Her daughter had never wanted to talk about what had happened between them, but it had been clear to Ann that it had cut her deeply. Lisa’s mother, on the other hand, had been much more informative. It had transpired that Lisa had been outed as being a lesbian and suffered some serious abuse from the other Middleton High students. The faculty had failed to adequately deal with the situation by the end of the semester and so Lisa’s parents had been forced to move their daughter to a different school. While shocking to hear, Ann had been more interested in Kim’s involvement in the whole affair. Her daughter’s reaction to the loss of her friendship with Lisa had told Ann that it had not been a simple case of homophobia on Kim’s part. While the exact details had been unclear, it transpired that Lisa had, at some point, kissed Kim and believed that Kim had kissed her back. Ann had not known what to make of this. However, by the time she had decided to talk to her daughter about it, Kim had returned to normal and so she had let the matter drop. History had then repeated itself with Miss Go. By the time Ann had decided she needed to force the issue and make Kim talk about it, the girl had been back to normal; that was her daughter’s way. However, could the loss or weakening of Kim’s remaining friendships have prompted the girl to try and rekindle an old one? 

_Have you become that lonely that you’ve tried to make friends with Shego, Kim?_ The first part of that question seemed increasingly likely. Two years ago, when her daughter had suddenly forgone college in favour of becoming a full-time hero, she’d had a boyfriend who was her best friend and only two other close friends. Although it was difficult to quantify her relationship with Wade, given that the vast majority of their interactions occurred via a small screen on Kim’s wrist. Which really only left Monique. Kim had broken up with Ron eighteen months ago and had only had a singular encounter with him since. And according to Monique, her interactions with Kim had become increasingly infrequent and generally strained as time had gone on. Even Wade spoke to her less, given that Kim now ran a lot of her missions herself. _But would you go as far as to try and make friends with your rival, Kim?_ Ann could not answer that, at least not with any certainty. Her daughter did a lot of things the average person would consider insane... impossible. Could she have become so desperate for contact with another human on her wavelength, that she’d reached out to the one individual whom she knew understood her?

Ann pondered the recent evidence as she finished her wine. Three weeks ago, Kim had spent almost a full hour duelling Shego, before eventually the sidekick had stepped in to ruin Dr Drakken’s plan; saving her rival’s life in the process. A lot of the dual had been broadcast either as part of the background to the mad scientist’s ultimatum to the world or taken centre stage when the cameraman had clearly gotten caught up in watching it himself. Picking up the TV remote, she switched it on and scrolled through the recordings on the Tivo box (which her sons had modified) and found HeroTV’s three-hour dissection of it and put it on. The last time she had watched it, Ann had been focused on the injuries that her daughter had sustained and paid little attention to either the commentary or the actual nature of the fight itself. However, watching it back, something quickly became apparent in the early stages; a lack of urgency. She was no martial artist, that particular talent having skipped a generation, but she had seen enough of both Kim and Shego fighting to know that neither was going anywhere near full pelt. In fact, not only was the sidekick not using her weird superpower, but both showed little desire to actually incapacitate the other. Indeed, she saw multiple moments where one of them was on the ground and the other allowed them ample time to pick themselves up. It was like watching a sparring match, not a fight that’s outcome would determine whether or not Dr Drakken took over the world. And the longer it went on, the more convinced Ann became that neither Kim nor Shego cared one bit about the mad scientist. Needless to say, this did not conform with any of the fights she had witnessed between the pair in the past.

She fast-forwarded through the remainder of the fight and watched what could be seen of the end; Shego being kicked over a railing and onto the rising platform upon which Dr Drakken and his latest doomsday weapon were situated. Kim was then seen briefly at the villain’s mercy and when the mad scientist tried to disintegrate her, his sidekick deflected the barrel of his weapon and thus the encounter ended. Ann turned the TV off. Nothing she had seen could explain why Kim had felt anger towards Shego the following day. And even after what had happened on Sunday night, or at least in her daughter’s version of events, she could not reconcile the insatiable lust for vengeance Kim had been exhibiting. _Something else has happened between the two of you, hasn’t it, Kim?_

Having now revived the footage, Ann was certain of it. Somehow, her daughter and Shego had been involved in at least one, although she suspected two or more, engagements that had not concerned Dr Drakken trying to take over the world. And whatever had occurred during these encounters, was the root cause of Kim’s current vendetta. Unfortunately, with her daughter’s unwillingness to talk to her about it, she had no way of finding out. Not unless she was willing to cross yet another line and invade the girl’s privacy. A thought crossed her mind and she pondered for a moment. Kim wore her Kimmunicator virtually everywhere. It would simply be a case of calling Wade and asking him to give her a list of places her daughter had been when back in Middleton over the few weeks prior to her defeat at the hands of Shego. She could then ask around and see if anyone there recalled seeing Kim there and if so, who she might have been with.

 _But if I do that, it’s only going to drive you even further away, isn’t it, Kim?_ It was very much a catch twenty-two situation. If she was going to help Kim, she needed more information about her daughter’s current problems, but the further she dug behind her back, the more she would resent her. And their relationship may already be past the point of no return. She had crossed a line by using the Alcatraz2000 on her daughter, she had known that even before she had placed it on the girl’s wrist. But while her methods had been questionable, to say the least, Ann still firmly believed that the reason behind her actions had been just. For it had become evident on Monday morning and even more so with each new article about Kim’s exploits this week, that her daughter would not have waited the two weeks needed for her injuries to heal, before setting out on her quest for vengeance. And she did not want to think about what fate may have befallen the girl, had she not intervened.

Ann sat up to pour herself another glass of wine. There was a second option on the table, one she had been pondering for a few weeks now. Unfortunately, given how stubborn her daughter was, she doubted it would go down well. And given the state of Kim’s relationships with her friends, she was not certain any of them would have the desire to help her stage any sort of intervention. Except option three, do nothing and hope things sorted themselves out, was not something she could, in good conscience, do. The entire situation, to use a phrase from her children’s generation, sucked. But, sooner or later, she would have to do something. And in the end, if her actions resulted in Kim never talking to her again, then so be it. For she would pay any price if it meant protecting her daughter, even from herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I hope you all enjoyed that short little interlude. Now, the news you've hopefully all been waiting for; when season two will start. I am now officially back from my writing holiday and working hard on the first set of chapters for season two. At the time of writing, I've written the first five and am hoping to post the first update either next week or the week after. Like with season one, I plan on being one update ahead of you guys, as that allows me to post on a regular basis and ensures I don't have to retcon anything. So, until then, stay safe and I'll hopefully see you all for the start of season two in a week or two.
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


	43. S201 (U1): Comfortably numb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I am now officially back from my holiday to Yharnam (I played Bloodborne and got my platinum trophy, woo-hoo!), via a short stay in Mordor (Shadow of War) and a very brief stint as King of Leon (Crusader Kings II). Anyway, without further ado, welcome to season two of And You And I. Before we get started, a massive thank you to everyone for all your support throughout season one and in the weeks since it wrapped up. The reception this story has had really has been phenomenal and it means the world to me that so many people have enjoyed it.
> 
> I’ve been working hard on season two for a few weeks now and am making good progress. For the benefit of everyone who started reading after I posted the last update of season one, I’ll just quickly explain how I do things. After deciding that this was going to be more than a one-shot (yeah, I really didn’t think things through before I started writing), I came up with a rough plan for the story (short and long term). However, I allowed Kim and Shego’s actions to dictate the direction it went in as I wrote. Hence, when they did something I did not plan on that necessitated an extra chapter or two, or an even a bigger change to my plan, that’s what happened. Even though I have a much firmer handle on things moving into season two, I will still be allowing Kim and Shego the same level of freedom to influence the story and its direction. In that respect, instead of posting single chapter updates, each update will normally consist of multiple chapters (usually between two and four). This allows me to ensure the continuity is good, that I don’t have to go around retconning things left, right and centre and ultimately, a higher quality story, which is something I’m sure we all want.
> 
> Throughout season one I posted an update once a week, typically on a Wednesday or Thursday. However, given the pace at which I wrote that season was ridiculously quick (twelve weeks total), I’m going to be a little more conservative this time and aim to post an update every two weeks; again on Wednesday or Thursday. I have already written most of update two, so that will definitely be with you within that timeframe (I like to be one update ahead of you guys as an extra assurance on the continuity and story direction). After that, I’ll base things on how quickly I’m able to write. 
> 
> One final note, as requested by someone in the comments, I'm going to put a little identifier at the start of each chapter title, so you guys know what update each chapter belongs to. As I will also be starting the chapter numbering from one, this little identifier will be a better way for me to keep track of the chapter numbers, should I need to refer to one in a future note. So, for season two chapter one, the tag will be S201 (U1), with the U1 part referring to it being part of update one. 
> 
> Right, with all that out of the way, let’s move on to season two. Like season one, I’ll be continuing to take the chapter titles from song titles or lyrics and up first is chapter one: Comfortably numb. For anyone who knows Pink Floyd, you’ll probably recognise this chapter title immediately and for those of you who don’t, it is the name of a song from their 1979 masterpiece The Wall. The reason, you’ll soon see. Enjoy.

Grey. That was perhaps the simplest, yet most accurate description of the colour pallet used by the interior designer of the prison facility. Pick any cell inside block D, or any other block for that matter, and you would be confronted by grey walls, door, furniture and bedding. At some point, either someone had decided that colour was too expensive, or that the inmates should be kept as downtrodden as possible. In fact, the only things not on the greyscale were the prisoners' clothing: orange jumpsuits with white underwear and shoes. A concession perhaps made grudgingly and purely because of the need to have the inmates easily identifiable against the drab backdrop.

It was in one of these dreary cells that Shego currently lay. Due to an ‘incident’ that had occurred the day prior to her arrival, Captain Brooks had decided to punish her collective charges with a two-day lockdown. Thus, from the moment she had first rested her head down on the bottom bunk on Saturday evening, she had been left there virtually undisturbed for the remainder of the day and night. So long as she wasn’t dead, no one gave a rat’s ass about her. This included her cellmate; Bonnie Rockwaller, who had arrived a day before her. Indeed, the Middleton born former cheerleader, now branded sidekick to supervillain Señor Senior, Junior, had completely ignored her after finishing a long recitation of the cell rules. If she had been able to think straight, Shego may have wondered how on earth the girl had been able to compile such an extensive list of bullshit, given that her collective time spent within the prison system had amounted to exactly one day. The answer to which was a few days at cheer camp, where she had been cabin-mates with her schoolyard nemesis; a certain hero by the name of Kim Possible. The experience for both individuals being tantamount to serving time in jail. However, given the almost zombified state that she had been in at the time, Shego had simply laid down on the bottom bunk and gone to sleep.

It was now Sunday morning and narrow beams of sunlight drifted between the thick bars of the cell window, casting lines of light and shadow across the unconscious woman. Somewhere, a clock was ticking. Counting down to the moment when the claxon to signal the start of the prison day would sound; thus an end to the two-day lockdown.

After having partaken in a rather intense dance with Kim Possible inside Dr Drakken’s volcano lair, during which she had suffered several injuries, Shego had then used a significant amount of energy to generate a continuous wall of green flames between herself and the hero. All in the name of holding her rival off long enough to throw down the gauntlet of a kiss between them and thus prove to the girl that she did indeed like other girls. And it had worked. Kim had risen to the challenge and the pair had kissed. Only it had not ended there. Driven by a lust and desire that neither of them had anticipated nor fully understood, their bodies had become entwined with one another and their lips and tongues locked in a furious dance; like two flames intermingling. Unfortunately, fate had played its hand and beaten them both. What could have been the start of something magical, had been interrupted by the explosion of the generators, which had powered the lightning-ray; Dr Drakken’s latest doomsday device. The blast had ripped the hero and villain apart and resulted in the survival instincts of both kicking in and two simultaneous death-defying escape attempts. However, while Kim had escaped with little incident, Shego, after having stuffed Dr Drakken into the elevator, had discovered she had left Ru-Ru; the naked-mole-shark, behind and so been forced to go back and rescue him. And thanks to the continued disintegration of the lair, she had been forced to escape via a fissure created by a mini-eruption of the volcano. A jet of steam that had followed her out, had then blasted her down the mountainside, separated her from Ru-Ru and landed her battered and bruised body straight into the custody of Global Justice. With no energy left with which to fight them off, both Shego and Dr Drakken had been whisked off to jail and after an intrusive processing, the former had been injected with a GJ devised serum, which suppressed her Team Go glow. The villainess had then been incarcerated within the same cell as one Bonnie Rockwaller.

Shego lay with her eyes open, her soulless and unfocused gaze starring up at the bottom of the bunk above her, like she was gazing through it and into some gap within the very fabric of reality itself. Except instead of having the secrets of the universe within her grasp she had... nothing. She had peeked behind the curtain and discovered only emptiness. Even in the light of morning, her pupils were large and her normally piercing emerald irises dull, giving her gaze a hollow appearance. Like someone had snuffed out the fire from behind it. An apt metaphor, given Captain Brooks had essentially done so by administering the GJ serum to her. Shego had been awake for a few hours, however, she had no mind to get up, no desire to do anything. In fact, she could have been in the most awkward and uncomfortable position imaginable and still she would not have bothered to move. For at present, all sensory information struggled to make it to her brain. And while she did not like the feeling or lack thereof, nor did she hate it; it just was or was not, depending on your point of view. Indeed, even her own thoughts or the pain from her collective injuries, struggled to make any sort of impression upon her. And without disruption, she could easily have remained where she lay, comfortably numb to both her own being and the world around her. Alas, her current state of existence was only moments from being disturbed.

The sound of the claxon to signal the start of the prison day rang throughout cell block D and was soon followed by the disengaging of the electronic locks and the cell doors sliding open. The collective grumblings of weary prisoners then emanated from every cell, as they rose to start the day. Shego did not stir. Not even when Bonnie climbed down from the top bunk and shot her a look of contempt, or when from outside, a voice barked, “roll call.”

Had she been aware of what was going on, Shego would have heard inmates responding to their names when called and of the steadily increasing sound of footsteps, as Captain Brooks and her entourage approached her cell. This would have been followed by its abrupt ceasing, when the individuals in question reached the door and the Captain’s sharp voice asking, “where is your cellmate?” of Bonnie.

“Still in bed,” Bonnie snorted with derision.

Shego was also oblivious to the sharp snap of the Captain’s fingers, followed by her cellmate’s cry of pain, as two of the other guards each grabbed a fistful of her hair and then forced her down onto her knees. She also missed the brief conversation that followed.

“When I address you in future, Girl, not only will you use a more respectful tone, but you will either start or end your response with the word Sir,” Captain Brooks said in a cold, level tone of authority. “Do you understand?”

Bonnie quickly yelped, “yes,” and after a brief squeal, cried out, “Sir.”

“Good,” the Captain said sharply, before her attention turned to her subordinates, “bring her cellmate out.”

It was difficult to describe how Shego felt when two pairs of hands grabbed her arms and pulled her upright. Largely due to the fact that she didn’t really feel anything. She only had the vaguest awareness that she had just been hauled onto her feet and was now being dragged towards the cell door. She gave no objection. And once the message got to her brain that her feet needed to move, they complied without question. Moments later, she found herself standing in front of Captain Brooks; the guards still holding her by the arms. She had already forgotten the few steps she had taken and the fact she had been lying in bed in the first place. Shego’s head drooped slightly and not only did her unfocused eyes not meet with the Captain’s stern gaze, but she was barely aware that there was an individual there at all.

“Is there a reason you’re holding up my roll call?” Captain Brooks barked.

The words reached Shego’s ears but struggled to make much impression on her addled brain. Unsurprisingly, she did not respond. The sharp click of the Captain’s fingers sounded once more, only that too failed to register with her. Simultaneously, the two guards who were holding her arms kicked the backs of her knees and her legs buckled. The impact with the floor sent a slight shock through her body and a single thought managed to force itself through the thick haze that clouded her mind, _oh, I’m on my knees. How did that happen?_ When the guards each grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back so that her unfocused gaze once more looked towards that of Captain Brooks, the sensation managed to register a mild, _oww,_ with her brain.

“Disrespectful as always I see,” the Captain declared.

A tingling sensation then spread out across Shego’s left cheek, like a hundred tiny needles lightly dancing on her skin, as her head was forcibly twisted to the right, _…ouch…_

From beside her, a fearful voice yelped, “you can’t do that to us! That’s brutality!” and then promptly shut up, perhaps realising that the outburst had been a momentary lapse of sanity and would not be taken kindly.

Shego heard the words of Bonnie and her gaze lazily fell upon the girl; who was still down on her own knees. _Ut-oh,_ she thought, as something in the back of her mind told her that something bad was about to happen.

She watched as Captain Brooks moved to stand in front of the brunette. In a flash, the woman seized Bonnie by the hair, eliciting a loud squeal, then violently threw the girl to the floor. Before the former cheerleader could react, the Captain planted a heavy boot between her shoulder blades and forced her flat. The pressure drawing a cry of pain.

“Listen and listen well, Girl,” Captain Brooks said, her voice low and sounding like it had been drawn from the waters of an ever-frozen lake. “This isn’t high school detention, where you can sit in defiance of the teacher with a look of contempt on your face.”

Bonnie squealed again, an indication that the pressure on her shoulders had just been increased.

“If you so much as breath and I don’t like it, I’ll have you thrown in solitary confinement. Piss me off and while you’re in there, I’ll have the lights turned off or the temperature increased, or both.”

“Argh,” Bonnie cried out and then whimpered, “please, stop.”

From somewhere in the shrouded depths of her mind, Shego had a feeling that she had seen this all play out before. And that Captain Brooks took some sort of sadistic pleasure from breaking fresh meat. Only the fog around her brain had not lifted nearly enough for her to even think about interceding on Bonnie’s behalf, let alone actually do it. Instead, a simple thought of, _oh, dear,_ fluttered through her mind.

“Make me angry and I’ll personally take the skin off of your backside,” Captain Brooks continued. “Do you understand, Girl?”

“Yes!” Bonnie cried out, before screaming, “ARGH!”

“Yes, what?” the Captain barked.

“Yes, Sir,” Bonnie squealed.

Unlike Kim, Shego had no beef with the girl and so, despite the current state of her mind, a slight twinge of pity resonated inside her. _She’s never done time before and unfortunately for her, she’s going to be taught the rules by the harshest captain there is._ The fully formed thought caught her by surprise and it took her brain a moment to register that it had occurred. She took a deliberate breath and slowly, ever so slowly, her gaze started to sharpen slightly. On the floor beside her, she could now **see** the terrified and pain smeared features of Bonnie and the heavy boot that was planted firmly between the girl’s shoulder blades.

However, a moment later, now seemingly satisfied that Bonnie had got the message, Captain Brooks withdrew her foot and moved back to stand in front of Shego. “I trust you’re not going to give me a similar problem?”

It was more of an autopilot reaction, rather than deliberate thought that resulted in Shego promptly replying, “no, Sir.”

“Good,” Captain Brooks barked, before turning her attention to her subordinates. “Give them each two demerits for holding up my roll call and little Miss Priss here a third for her insolence.”

With that, the hands holding Shego relinquished their grip and the party strode off down the cellblock; one of them barking out names as they went, leaving her and Bonnie to pick themselves up off the floor. It took a few moments for her to deliver the message to her legs and for them to respond, but eventually, she got to her feet. Her gaze, while not quite holding the black holes in the sky look from a few minutes ago, was still unfocused and she struggled to centre it upon anything. The momentary burst of clarity that had come with the feeling of pity for her cellmate seemed to have receded and so she stood and waited without any further thought.

When eventually the call went out that indicated that the inmates could now go and shower, Shego’s body, again acting on autopilot, robotically wandered back into the cell and fetched the bathing products that she somehow knew she would find inside her footlocker. From beside her, she was vaguely aware that Bonnie had followed her to fetch her own stuff and without even a gaze passing between them, the two women trudged back out of the cell and followed the throng of other inmates as they collectively made their way to the shower block in an orderly fashion; under the watchful eyes of the numerous guards. While Shego did not currently have the acumen to notice, it would have been apparent to any outside observer that, after having been under lockdown for the bulk of the last two days, the inmates were all on their best behaviour, lest they anger Captain Brooks to the point that she rescind their relative freedom.

##

Both the rest of the morning and afternoon had passed Shego by without her really noticing. She’d showered, gone to breakfast; which she had simply sat and stared at and then went out into the yard; where she had sat down on the bleachers and not moved until the claxon had sounded for lunch. However, all of this had been at the direction of the guards. Without their prompting, she would still be stood outside her cell after morning roll call. The afternoon had followed a similar pattern.

By dinner time, Shego’s stomach had finally gotten the message through to her brain that she was starving, given that she had not eaten anything since breakfast time the previous day. So, she sat in the mess hall and robotically ate the bland slices of roast chicken, served with carrots and peas. She sat alone. Or as alone as one could when nearly a dozen other inmates were sitting at the same long table. Nevertheless, Shego sat in the far corner, distanced from the next inmate along; no one sat across from her. It would not have surprised her if her mind had the ability to take notice. She had a reputation, both in and outside of jail, of being a hard-ass whom you did not want to mess with, which meant that everyone gave her a wide berth. A good thing too, as in her present condition, if anyone was to take proper notice of her, they would see her altogether not-there-ness and probably use the opportunity to take her out; she didn’t exactly foster friends after all. Even Dr Drakken had chosen to avoid her. Although given she had helped ruin his plan yet again, that was something else that would normally not have surprised her.

Shego’s dull emerald gaze moved across the room, but never actually focused on anything. At least not until it landed upon the brown hair of her cellmate, who was situated at the next table. Bonnie’s mouth was moving, but not because she was chewing something. While the exact content of the girl’s words never registered with her, even in her current state she could hear the contempt and derision. Shego’s eyes haphazardly moved from left to right and back again. Something about the murderous looks on the faces of the inmates who flanked the former cheerleader told her that whatever Bonnie had said, had been directed at them and it managed to elicit the thought, _not good._

The sound of a fist slamming on the table reached her ears and her view of Bonnie was quickly obscured by a large figure in orange who had shot to their feet. However, before the words, _ut-oh,_ even formed in her mind, a pair of guards had appeared and the inmate had promptly sat down. Shego just managed to hear the individual hiss something threatening, she was unable to process what exactly, only for Bonnie to reply with a look and words that probably amounted to, _“oh, I’m so scared.”_ In the depths of her mind, Shego felt a fear for the girl that told her that she should be scared.

Overhead, the claxon to signal that dinner time was over sounded and Shego’s body reacted accordingly and she stood up. While the inmates had the option of where to go, she found herself retracing her steps back out into the yard again. All around her, inmates fanned out, some of them immediately arguing over whose turn it was with the basketball and others about who owned a particular spot on the bleachers. It was right between this latter group that Shego walked, completely oblivious to their argument, and she sat herself down atop the disputed piece of woodwork. Six sets of eyes immediately turned to stare at her, but her gaze met with none.

“Shit, we didn’t realise this was your spot,” a burly figure, whose jumpsuit was missing sleeves so his tattoos could be on display, said hastily and he noticeably took a step backwards. His underlings followed suit.

“Yeah, we’ll find somewhere else to sit,” his opposite number, a lanky individual with a shaved head added.

Without another word, all six figures quickly vamoosed.

Shego was only vaguely aware of this happening. She sat in silence and simply stared off into space, a light breeze gently wafting her long raven hair in the warmth of the evening sun. Eventually, after about an hour of this, a thought of, _well, this is boring,_ finally managed to flutter through her foggy mind. Only beyond getting her gaze to start scanning the yard and trying to focus on something, it achieved nothing else. However, in her present state, it was more than enough to keep her occupied. Her emerald eyes moved from person to person, object to object, without really taking in what she saw. Although, when she caught sight of Dr Drakken, her mind did offer up the question, _why is he blue?_ After several moments, where she tried but failed to come up with anything that remotely resembled an answer, her gaze moved on and once more found the brown locks and snide expression of her cellmate. She was stood beside two other women, who on a normal day, Shego would have recognised as Espadrille and Hoodie; of the villain trio known as the Fashionistas. She watched the three of them for a while, although the term watched should be taken in the loosest possible sense.

A sudden and very loud crash then sounded from somewhere to her right and drew the attention of everyone in the yard. Well, everyone except for Shego, who continued to stare at the space occupied by Bonnie and the Fashionista ladies. However, that was not to say the crash had not impacted her in any way. The sudden and loud nature of it had managed to batter its way through the fog that shrouded her mind and left a small but definite hole in it. The result led to her body jolting slightly and a sharpening of her gaze. She now found herself able to actually focus on her cellmate. From behind, the girl was suddenly grabbed by three sets of arms and hurriedly dragged around the corner of the building. _This is bad… very bad._ The thought took Shego by surprise, only not as much as when her mind managed to connect the dots between the two events. _That crash was meant as a distraction for the guards._ Not entirely sure of what she was doing or why, she stood up and slowly started to walk across the yard in the direction that Bonnie had been dragged off in.

Shego rounded the corner and stopped as she forced her brain to take in the scene before her. Two women that had been here during her previous three stints in jail, had Bonnie pinned up against the wall. A wad of material may have been shoved into the former cheerleader’s mouth, but the look of terror in her eyes told Shego that she was yelling regardless. A third woman, taller and far more muscular than her cohorts, bared down upon the terrified girl.

“So, you think you can just talk shit like that to me and get away with it?” the woman, who Shego vaguely thought might be called Morgan and who had possibly done stints working for Professor Dementor, barked. The woman prodded a thick finger against Bonnie’s forehead. “You think Brooks is the worst thing you have to deal with in here, huh?”

Bonnie gave a very muffled cry in response.

“That bitch’ll just skin your ass for talking shit to her. I’ll beat the absolute crap out of you.”

It was at that moment, just as Morgan raised a fat fist, that the first of her two underlings caught sight of Shego. “Oh sh…shit!” the woman stammered and promptly released her grip on Bonnie.

The second underling was next to react. Her gaze turned in Shego’s direction and she promptly blurted out, “Sh…Shego!” Her hands too quickly let go of the former cheerleader.

Morgan turned to stare at her. “What the hell do you want?”

However, Shego’s gaze was fixed on Bonnie. “Run,” she uttered in a low monotone.

Her cellmate did not need telling twice and quickly bolted. She was not the only one, Shego’s mere presence having been enough to cause Morgan’s lackeys to scarper.

“Hey, get back here!” Morgan yelled, perhaps at her cohorts and quarry in equal measure. The woman’s icy blue gaze then zeroed in on Shego. “I don’t care who the fuck you are. No one interrupts me beating the crap out of someone!”

The punch was slow and heavy, arcing around from the left and for someone with her abilities, easy to block. Except the thought never even managed to materialise in her mind before the blow connected with her right cheek and sent her crashing to the ground. For the first time since the initial shock factor of the GJ serum had worn off, Shego properly felt something, as pain receptors began to light up inside her brain like bulbs on a Christmas tree. _Oww, that hurt._ She spat a mouthful of green blood onto the concrete and turned her head just in time to see Morgan’s foot lash out and kick her in the abdomen. Her body flew two feet across the ground before she rolled for a further three. When she came to a stop, pain began to flood her body and not just from the spot where she had just been kicked. One of her right-hand ribs felt broken and her entire left-hand side hurt like hell. The former had been caused by Kim, while the latter was the side she’d landed on after getting blasted down the side of Mount St Helens. She struggled to bring herself up onto her knees, mind now telling her that she had to get back onto her feet. Except she could not send signals through the wall of pain in order to get her body to respond.

“You’re not so tough after all, Bitch,” Morgan gloated and Shego could do nothing as she watched the woman advance. “Guess I’ll have to give you what I was going to give your little friend.”

In front of her, she saw the woman ready another kick, but before Morgan could pull the trigger, a voice yelled, “hold it right there, Morgan!”

Shego managed to suck in a ragged breath, as the foot in front of her froze in mid-air.

“Face the wall and put your hands behind your head.”

From her position on the ground, she saw the large woman hesitate for a moment, before turning ninety degrees and stepping forward. Shego could only assume that she complied with the second half of the instruction too, as the guard in charge then said, “you two, take her back to her cell and you two, pick her up.”

It was only when two pairs of hands took hold of her and pulled her up onto her feet, that she realised that the individual in question was herself. She caught a glimpse of Morgan being led away and the other woman shot her a death glare as she spat, “you won’t be so lucky next time, Shego.”

The guards, who were still supporting her, turned her around so that she came face to face with one of Captain Brooks’ lieutenants. She did not recognise him. He looked her up and down before declaring, “take her to the infirmary.”

Her body hanging limply between the two guards, Shego was led off towards the nearest entrance back into the building. She hurt, a lot. And was not quite sure what she had been doing prior to the first of Morgan’s two blows connecting, or indeed why the woman had attacked her. Just that it had been monumentally stupid of her to cross someone thick-headed enough to take a stab at her. _Urgh, I’m going to be feeling this lot for days… maybe longer._ A memory of the last time she’d felt so beat up made its way into her mind. She’d woken up on her couch with a splitting headache from having drunk way too much tequila the previous night and with several injuries after her midnight dual with Kim in the Middleton High playing fields. _Kim… why does it always come back to you?_ She did not know what she meant by that or why she felt something akin to both longing and hatred towards her rival. Just that things between the two of them were… complicated.

One minute, Shego was aware of being in the yard, the next she was been deposited atop a bed in the infirmary. Her brief thought process about Kim having both distracted her attention and taken her mind the entire trip to process. It seemed that, though Morgan’s blows had literally knocked some sense back into her, they had not been enough to fully dissipate the fog that still clung around her mind. In front of her, she saw the guards take their leave and a nurse bustle over to her bedside.

However, before the woman could introduce herself, a voice from across the room said, “seriously, Green, what happened to you? You look like you’ve been hit by some sick ride and been totally flattened. I’m serious.”

Shego slowly turned her head to stare at the occupant of the bed opposite the one she had been put on, only she had not even formulated a response before the nurse in front of her snapped, “that’s enough from you, Mr Lipsky.”

“Seriously, Babe, I’ve told you like a hundred times, it’s Motor Ed.”

“Don’t you Babe me, Mr Lipsky,” the nurse snapped. “Now either you hold your tongue or I’ll come over there and sedate you.”

A different voice, this one from behind her, then quickly said with a thick Spanish accent, “I’m sure my friend Ed was only concerned for the wellbeing of Miss Shego.”

Like Motor Ed’s had done moments prior, the man’s voice brought about a vague recognition inside her head, but before she had the chance to search it for the answer, the nurse provided it for her.

“If I want your opinion, Mr Senior, I’ll ask for it,” the woman retorted and Shego caught a glimpse of the stern look on her face. A pair of fierce hazel eyes then locked onto her own. “Now then, let’s have a look at you.”

The nurse drew the curtains around the bed, to keep out the stares of nosey onlookers, before moving back to stand in front of Shego. She offered up no resistance as the woman unzipped the front of her jumpsuit and slid it over her shoulders and down to her waist. Nor when her t-shirt was pulled up and over her head. And while she remained blissfully ignorant, it seemed that the nurse had been well informed as to her present condition, hence the reason she had not been offered the chance to undress herself.

The medical exam could have taken five, fifteen or fifty minutes, Shego could not be sure. However, by its end, she found herself dressed in a pair of infirmary pyjamas and tucked securely into the bed. Her ribs had been strapped, along with her left ankle (apparently it was sprained) and she had been given a strong dose of painkillers. Flopped back amidst the sheets and with her head resting on the pillow, she could hear the voices of Motor Ed and Señor Senior, Junior talk loudly from in front and to her right respectively. Her eyes closed but before sleep could take her, perhaps the single most normal thought she’d had all day entered her mind, _urgh, I’m stuck here with Ed and Junior for company. Why couldn’t Morgan just have killed me?_ She slipped into unconsciousness not long afterwards.


	44. S202 (U1): When it's all over we still have to clear up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so one down, three to go. Chapter two’s title; When it’s all over we still have to clear up, is the title of a Snow Patrol track from the album of the same name. Given that this chapter focuses on the aftermath of Kim’s self-discovery from the end of last season, it seemed quite an appropriate title.

Rain lashed against the privacy glass of the penthouse apartment. The strife in the clouds above analogous to the internal conflict brewing inside the dwelling’s occupant. A jagged bolt of lightning tore across the sky and was followed mere seconds later by the delicate sound of thunder. The combination of light and sound briefly lit up the apartment’s main living area and echoed around the room respectively. The owner; situated at the dining table, showed no outward sign of having noticed either.

Flaming red hair in a tousled mess, olive-green eyes sullen and slightly bloodshot from lack of sleep, Kim Possible sat with a half-full mug of cold coffee in front of her. If she had been a smoker, there would have been a lit cigarette in her hand; with an inch of ash almost burnt to her fingertips and an ashtray on the table; overflowing with stubbed out butts. Only she had never touched a cigarette in her life. Instead, sprawled out on her sofa, she had an unconscious naked-mole-shark, its small pink belly bulging and surrounded by a mess of cheese balls and onion rings, that had gone slightly stale from too much exposure to the air.

 _What does all this mean?_ Kim thought for the umpteenth time since plonking herself down at the dining table with her now cold coffee. Since her emotionally draining trip down memory lane last night and the subsequent earth-shattering discovery that she liked girls, she had only managed a few hours of fitful sleep. Come six-thirty that morning; when her alarm clock had gone off, she’d hit it until it had stopped beeping and tried to go back to sleep. Only the attempt had been just as futile as any she had tried throughout the night. Eventually, at about eight o’clock, she’d given up, climbed out of bed, pulled a fluffy pink housecoat on over her lilac pyjamas and trudged through to the kitchen to make some coffee.

It was now nine-thirty and she had made zero progress. Aside from the aforementioned coffee, Kim had not even managed to form a concrete thought about making breakfast, such was her minds current state of disarray. Indeed, at this very moment in time, several thoughts tried to force their way through the metaphorical door in her mind that would garner them full attention. _Did I like girls before Lisa kissed me, or did that happen as a result of her kissing me? Damn, I feel hungry. Do I still like boys? I could really go for some toaster tarts right about now. Am I gay? Bisexual?_ Needless to say, the result was a train wreck and the final thought that actually got her attention was something akin to, _am I a lesbian toaster boy?_ The emergence of this bastardised concatenation finally caused her to pause as a, ‘what the fuck,’ expression formed on her face. She let out a long sigh, _first off,_ _I don’t have toaster tarts, so unless I go out and get some, that idea won’t fly._ However, before she could move onto thinking about any of the other points that had been raised in her mind, the nuclear bomb question dropped through her thought process and once more obliterated everything, _does this mean that I... **like** Shego?_

Before she could stop herself, instinct took over and Kim rose from her chair. Without hesitation, she crossed the apartment, headed down the short corridor and into her workroom. Undressing, she went into her wardrobe and suited up in her purple mission outfit. It was only while waiting impatiently for her PC to boot, that the thought, _you’re trying to run away again,_ finally crept into her mind. Kim’s hand froze, just as she hovered the mouse over the icon for her website. She was doing just that. The moment her site opened, she would scroll through the list of requests and accept the first one that would take her out of the country. She’d then quickly arrange transport, pack her bags and leave the apartment and all her problems behind her; to be dealt with later. Only later would never come. She’d jet around the world doing mission after mission for a week, probably longer and only come home when she absolutely had to. Rinse and repeat until her problems were buried so deep, she forgot about them. Except there would be no forgetting this one, as sooner or later, Shego and Drakken would escape from jail, hatch another take over the world scheme and she would be forced to face her rival. And Kim knew that just the sight of Shego, with her green-tinged skin, luxurious raven hair and those tantalising lips; covered in black lipstick, would be enough to dig up everything she was trying to run from.

Her hand trembled as her mind fought with itself over whether she should double-click the mouse button and follow through with her plan. “ _Open the website, find a job and let’s ditch this joint,”_ a voice in the back of her head, which she recognised as an echo of her fifteen-year-old self, said. _“You can be in the Sloth and tearing up asphalt on the way to an airbase in fifteen minutes. Then you’ll have mission data to review that will serve as a good distraction until adrenaline time.”_

It was tempting, so very tempting, to the point that Kim actually opened her website before she forced herself to stop. _No, I can’t keep running away from this._

_“Why not? You’ve been running away from it for five years now?”_

_Because the naked-mole-rat’s out of the pouch now. I kissed Shego yesterday and I liked it,_ she shook her head, _…no, I loved it._ The nuclear warhead that was that particular thought threatened to detonate again and it took a herculean effort on her part to stop her hand from scrolling down the page and finding that job. _I have to face this._

Unfortunately, the part of her that was still the old Kim Possible, still clad in Club Banana blue capris and green vest, did not seem ready to just give up. _“You’ll be a lot happier if you take the mission and just forget this whole mess. I mean it’s not like you go out and chase after boys anyway. Hit the mission trail and pretty soon everything will be back to normal, so not the drama.”_

Kim's eyes scanned the page as she scrolled, eventually coming across a request to retrieve the stolen crown jewels of some tiny European country. _It so is the drama. Coming to terms with the fact I’m a lesbian, bisexual… or whatever is hard enough, without adding Shego and how kissing her made me feel to the mix._ An image of the two of them, wrapped in each other’s arms; tongues and lips locked in a furious dance, filled her mind and she immediately felt the small explosion go off that would send the two halves of the plutonium core crashing together and trigger the nuclear blast. Her hand moved the cursor over the accept button.

 _“That’s it,”_ the echo of her younger self whispered, _“just one more click and you can start to forget about this whole being gay nonsense.”_

Like it had just turned green-hot under her palm, Kim wrenched her hand off of the mouse. _No. I won’t do it again,_ she thought firmly, the final words of her younger self betraying the trap at the last Possible moment. She knew she was still scared about the whole issue of being gay and that was before factoring in Shego. She’d even admitted it to herself last night. And while she had accepted the fact that she liked girls, it came as little surprise that part of her wanted to go back to denial, to spare herself the inevitable emotional turmoil. _I came too far last night to turn back now. So, for better or worse, I need to deal with this._ Before she had the chance to change her mind, she grabbed the mouse, closed her website and turned off the PC.

Kim let out a low breath. That had been harder than she would care to admit. _Ok, so where do I start._ Her stomach rumbled a polite reminder that she had not yet had any breakfast. _Heh, looks like we have a winner._ In fairness, it had been no contest. Her stomach was well versed in getting her attention and in constantly reminding her of its wants, should she choose to ignore the initial request. Given that she was already dressed, she elected just to leave her mission gear on, however, made the smart decision to leave her Kimmunicator on the desk. _If I put that on and I get an interesting call from Wade, I might not be able to resist temptation a second time._ At the thought of her gearhead, Kim groaned. She’d been a downright bitch to him yesterday, no, scratch that, all week and would need to make it up to him. Unfortunately, the reminder of how she’d been with Wade served only to highlight the trail of destruction she’d left in her wake when it came to her personal relationships, ever since her disastrous second social encounter with Shego. _Urgh, way to add even more problems on top of your already considerable pile, Possible._ She gave a momentary thought to her Mom, Dad, Monique and even the Tweebs. She’d been horrible to all of them plus Wade and not all of them had deserved it. Only she had no headspace to spare anything more than that on any of them today. _I have bigger issues to deal with._

Her stomach rumbled once more as she made her way out of her workroom and towards the kitchen. She needn’t have bothered. Given that last night had been the first she had spent at home for three weeks, her refrigerator and cupboards were devoid of any edible breakfast foods; even the dregs in the cereal boxes had gone stale. Finding a black garbage bag, she emptied out the contents of both, save for anything in a can or condiment bottle and did not dare look inside the packaging that had once housed a loaf of bread; the smell being bad enough. _Guess I should probably go to the store and buy some stuff._ She let out a hollow laugh at having had such a ‘normal’ thought. _Like I’ll be around to use most of it._ She’d lost count of how much stuff she’d thrown out because she’d gone off on a mission a day or so after buying it and not come home in time to use it before it expired. In fact, aside from breakfast stuff, she couldn’t recall the last meal she’d cooked and even then she’d wager it had been a microwavable dinner. Cooking had never been her strong suit, evidenced by her brief time as a Bueno Nacho employee, where Ned had quickly busted her down to button pusher and her time stuck in cookery class under Ron’s tutelage. Both memories, like any that involved her former best friend, brought about a twinge of sadness. _I guess I really do miss Ron, although definitely only as a friend._ Her current situation served only to highlight that fact. In years gone by, he would have been the first person she would have talked to in order to try and understand what was going on inside her head.

 _“Yeah, look how well that one turned out first time around,”_ the echoed voice of her younger self snorted.

At face value, it would be hard for her to disagree with that assessment. For Ron had, unwittingly, been the last brick in the mental wall that had cut her off from how she truly felt about her sexuality. However, she knew it was nowhere near that straightforward. Her old best friend was well known to her as being reactionary and the bombshell she had dropped that day in Bueno Nacho; that Lisa had kissed her and that she had kissed the girl back, had been so large that, in hindsight, she could not have expected him to act any differently. Like herself, Ron had been brought up with the stringent belief that boys kiss girls and add to that the two hours they’d spent that day having the message drilled into them by Mr Barkin, his reaction had become understandable. The very notion that she could possibly be gay must have shaken the foundations of his beliefs. Hence, reactionary Ron had, as he always did, immediately acted to preserve his bubble. Blissfully unaware of everything else that had happened to her over the previous twenty-four hours and the inadvertent damage his actions had done.

_It would be easy for me to dump the blame for this on Ron, especially given how things are between us now. However, I’d then have to blame dad for being dad, as there is every probability that he was against me kissing girls for the exact same reason he was against me kissing boys; overprotective father mode._

_“Then blame both of them and Mr Barkin to boot,”_ the voice countered. _“They’re all guilty of forcing you to repress your sexuality.”_

During her restless night, Kim had already done just that. Each of the aforementioned individuals had, at one point or another, been tried and hung inside her head for the crime of forcing her to repress her sexuality. Only now, having had a couple of hours breathing space from that particular aspect of the matter, she’d come to a realisation and decision concerning it. _While they all said or did things that led me down the path of suppressing my sexuality, ultimately, the person to blame is me. I’m a strong, independent woman who should have had the courage to decide for myself who I liked and wanted to kiss; just like Lisa._ Her heart sank at the thought of her former best girl and how she had treated her.

“Lisa,” she whispered the girl's name aloud, much like she had done several times inside her own head over the past few days. _How different might things have been had I followed her down the rabbit hole?_ She couldn’t answer that. Other than knowing that her school life would have been a lot more difficult if, a) they had become an item and b) their relationship had become public knowledge, she had no idea how different the past five years might have played out. Except for one thing. _If it turns out that I’m a lesbian and, let’s face it, my track record with boys suggests that may very well be the case, my friendship with Ron might well still be intact._

Kim sealed the garbage bag and headed for the front door. As she passed the sofa, her gaze fell upon the still sleeping naked-mole-shark, who was snoring loudly. Reasoning that he could only do so much damage in the short space of time that she’d be out, should he wake, she decided to leave him be and left the apartment. Crossing the hallway, she called the elevator and rode it down to the undercroft, where she promptly disposed of the trash and headed for the Sloth. Wade having had her car, along with her bags, transported from Chicago to Middleton while she had gone after Shego. Pressing her thumb against a small scanner beside the handle, she opened the door upon hearing a quick double beep and climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Kim Possible, 451,” she said clearly, before rolling her eyes, “hicka-bicka-boo, hoo-sha.” Her brothers had set the voice activation code when they had last upgraded the computer system and so far, she’d been unable to figure out how to change it. Hence, why she generally preferred to use the keys, however, she couldn’t be bothered raking through her bags, which were in the trunk, to find them. The onboard computer turned on and the engine roared into life. Backing out of the bay, she guided the Sloth out of the parking garage and into the downpour. It was time to source some breakfast.

##

Kim sat and watched the rain batter against the window as she waited for her breakfast to arrive. She’d made it halfway to the store before realising that she had taken a longer route, which conveniently took her past one of her favourite spots to have breakfast or dessert foods; Mama Joy’s pancake place. There wasn’t actually a Mama Joy, at least not anymore. The founder had been long dead since before Kim had even been born and the place was now run by her granddaughter. And pancakes were no longer the only item on the menu, although definitely her favourite. The cafe had also been somewhere she had frequented with Lisa and sometimes Ron too. In fact, she and her former best girl had often ganged up on him to veto Bueno Nacho in favour of the pancake place.

Kim tore her eyes away from the sky, where a bolt of lightning had just torn the clouds asunder and cast it around the café. It was fairly quiet for a Sunday morning, but given the weather, that didn’t surprise her. The décor was modern. The old wooden panels, faded brown carpet, red and white checked tablecloths and slightly sticky red leather booth coverings having all been given the boot several years ago; when the current owner had taken over the reins. Now it sported a granite tiled counter with large glass blocks framing the order window, a white and grey stone floor and black tables with matching chairs. However, one thing had not changed, the food.

Her stomach grumbled loudly at the sight of the waiter approaching with her stack of four pancakes, topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. The man had barely sat it down and turned away before she began attacking it with gusto. The food tasted divine and for several glorious minutes, Kim was able to forget all about her sexuality, Shego, Lisa and Ron, as her brain and stomach savoured the meal. Unfortunately, by the time her appetite had been sated and she’d found herself facing the final few mouthfuls that she knew she shouldn’t eat, her mind kicked back into gear. Starting with the thought, _if Ron was here, he would have already finished his own and I’d have both him and Rufus fighting it out for the right to claim my leftovers._

 _“Thinking of Ron again. Are you that desperate to find a way to forgive him?”_ a scathing voice that she knew did not belong to her younger self said inside her head. No, that comment definitely belonged to the cynical part of her current self. Younger Kim would probably be all for forgiving and trying to make peace with her former best friend, given how inseparable the two of them had once been.

 _No, but in light of yesterday’s revelation, I certainly have to shoulder an extra portion of the blame for why our relationship failed,_ Kim replied, finding it more than a little bit strange to be talking to herself, even internally.

_“Not likely. If anything, Ron owes you an even bigger apology after the shit he hurled at you last time you spoke to him.”_

Normally and even more so since missions had become her everyday, Kim was so sure of herself, such internalised debate did not afflict her. However, recent events had rocked the very foundations of her world, to the point that there were now far too many things she felt uncertain about. She let out a deflated sigh, _I’m arguing with pretty much everyone else in my life at the moment, why not add myself to that list?_ She then countered the point with, _if I am indeed a lesbian, my relationship with Ron would have been doomed to fail eventually and that’s on me._

Even though she received no reply on the matter, Kim did not feel like she had won the point. She cut off another corner of pancake and skewered both it and a quarter of a strawberry. She raised it to her mouth but paused when her stomach groaned in mild protest at the thought of more food. In the back of her mind, she heard an unmistakable voice say, in an amused tone, _“giving up already, Kimmie?”_

She let out a small chuckle at her mind’s recreation of Shego. If her rival had been sat across from her, she most certainly would already have been challenged with clearing her plate. But even if she had not, such a comment would have driven her to eat every last bite and do so with a smile on her face. Kim ate the forkful. _Shego… I don’t think I’m anywhere near ready to deal with her and our recent encounters yet._ On the plus side, at least thinking about her… about what they had done together, didn’t lay waste to her mind this time, which constituted progress.

Kim sat her knife and fork down on the plate and slid it away from her, not willing to let an imaginary version of Shego goad her into making herself sick. Instead, she turned her attention towards the subject she had been skirting around the edge of since walking away from her PC; her sexuality. _Ok, face facts, I like girls. The spark I felt when I kissed Lisa five years ago and the way Shego made me feel yesterday pretty much proves that. Question one: do I actually like boys too?_ Memories flashed through her mind, of how she had always fallen to pieces around Josh Manky, pussyfooted around with Hirotaka; the exchange student, the awkwardness she had felt around Ron when it came to them trying to be intimate and her recent engagement with the boy Matt and the feeling of wrongness she had gotten while they made out. She let out a sigh at the contrast between her time with Matt and Shego. Perhaps part of her had still been clinging to a faint hope that she still liked boys too. That she could simply accept that she also liked girls, then brush the fact under the rug and continue on as normal. Only she knew no amount of experimentation would change the result. G _reat, I’m a straightforward lesbian,_ she frowned at how wistful that thought had been. _Oh my god, do I actually have a problem with that?_

In the back of her head, she heard the voice of Mr Barkin, once more confined to just her memory, state his mantra, _“boys date girls, boys kiss girls and boys mate with girls. End of discussion.”_

This was then followed by her dad’s voice, reciting what he had told her when she had asked him about homosexuality the night after Lisa had kissed her, _“Your Mr Barkin sounds like the sort of man who’s never strayed too far from a conservative home. And you’ll find his viewpoint echoed around much of our community.”_

 _Dad was right on both counts. Mr Barkin always was straight as an arrow and with a very narrow tip. But his viewpoints, at least as far as sexuality is concerned, are definitely prevalent throughout Middleton. I saw that first hand with how the rest of the school body treated Lisa when they found out she kissed another girl._ That truth frightened her and Kim found her gaze glancing at the other patrons and staff within Mama Joy’s. She recognised most of them. In fact, if she were to approach any of them, she would most certainly get a warm smile and a hello. _Would everyone start treating me differently if they knew I was gay?_ The warm smiles she saw in her mind turned to looks of derision and contempt, with a definite air of, ‘don’t come near me, Freak.’ The reality was, people would treat her differently. _And that’s just people I’d meet when out in public. How on earth will mom and dad react?_ There was little in this world that genuinely scared Kim, but the idea of sitting down and telling her parents about her sexuality terrified her. _Maybe it’s a good thing that I hardly see them._ She let out a small laugh, _however, it’s not like I’ve got a girlfriend I need to try and hide from them. And if I keep it that way, no one ever has to find out. I can grow old alone…_ A lump formed in her throat at that idea. She’d never given any thought to growing old. She was only twenty and intended to have a very long hero career ahead of her. However, she disliked the prospect of never having anyone with whom she could share her life, who she could be close to on the most intimate of levels. And yesterday, Shego had given her a taste of what she was missing out on.

Kim almost drowned in the memory of all the feelings she had experienced while wrapped in her rival’s embrace. The excitement, the passion, the thrill, the desire… the lust. She’d wanted more and had it not been for the lightning-ray’s generators blowing up, she may very well have gotten it. _Urgh, I actually want someone in my life… and that someone is definitely a girl._ She groaned as her head fell into her hands. _I don’t even know where to start looking for a girlfriend, let alone what to do if I found someone. And it’s not like I can just go up to some random girl in a bar and ask her if I can buy her a drink or if she wants to dance… or say whatever it is I’m supposed to say to indicate my interest in them. At best I’d probably get a look of disgust before they told me to get lost, however, I’d more likely get a drink chucked in my face…_ An image of some girl, who had an unwanted similarity to Bonnie, doing just that, filled her mind. _How am I supposed to know if another girl likes girls? It’s not like with boys, where the automatic assumption is that they like girls…_

The fact of the matter was, she had absolutely no idea and she felt way out of her depth on the subject. _It was hard enough with boys and I had Monique helping me with that last time. How the hell am I supposed to figure this out and on my own?_ She shook her head in despair, _I need someone to talk to about all of this. Only two of the people I’d normally talk to won’t entertain me and the third…_ on thinking about her mom she felt a residual spark of anger towards the woman. The bulk of her rage may have dissipated since yesterday, however, the fact remained, her mom had crossed the line the moment she had slapped the Alcatraz2000 on her wrist. _There’s no way I’m going to talk to mom and especially not about this._ The very idea of doing so brought about the same terror she had felt earlier. Fortunately, her mind quickly moved on. _It would be pointless talking to any of them, as none of them are gay. They’d all be as clueless as I am. Only I don’t know anyone who is…_ her thought process came to a sudden halt. That wasn’t true. There were two people she knew who batted for the same team she now did; Lisa and Shego. Except she couldn’t talk to either of them. She had no idea where Lisa lived now and while she could easily have Wade track her down, there was no way she could face the girl after what she had done to her five years ago. Unfortunately, there were even larger barriers between herself and Shego now, literally. Her rival would be locked away inside a maximum-security prison, specifically designed to contain the country’s most dangerous supervillains. And given that Kim was the one responsible for putting her there, Shego would not likely ever again want to talk to her in any way other than to goad her while they were fighting.

 _What the hell am I supposed to do?_ Kim stared into space for a full two minutes as she waited for an answer that would not come. Eventually, her gaze fell despondently and she slowly rose from her chair. Like she was moving to the tune of a slow funeral march, she trudged out of Mama Joy’s. Large icy raindrops did a thorough job of soaking her jacket and trousers as she crossed the parking lot and climbed into the Sloth. Ultimately, it seemed that sating her stomach had achieved only that. For all her time spent thinking about her problems had accomplished nothing. Leaving her just as much at sea as she had been since first uttering the words, _“I like girls,”_ last night. It seemed there would be no quick fix for Kim Possible this time around.


	45. S203 (U1): They gave her time, doors bang, chain gang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, chapter three. This time we’re going way back into the annals of Pink Floyd’s history, all the way to their very first single; Arnold Layne. The line, they gave him time, doors bang, chain gang, is from this first single, albeit I replaced him with her for the chapter title. Anyway, enjoy.

Shego had awoken that morning from a dreamless sleep and had been more than a little confused to find herself inside the prison infirmary. The fog around her mind had receded for the most part, but she couldn’t recall how on earth she’d gotten there. Eventually, after taking stock of herself, she had become aware of multiple sources of pain from all over her body. Only this had not helped matters. She could recall her dual with Kim, the volcano escape and getting blasted down the mountainside, all of which accounted for her current condition. In fact, it had only been when she had touched her right cheek and subsequently winced, that she’d received a fragment of memory. The blow had connected and sent her straight to the ground. On a subconscious level, she had then recalled the second strike; a kick to her abdomen, for she had then pressed at the sight and been treated to another flashback. This time, it had been accompanied with a brief glimpse at the face of her attacker; a woman she now definitely recognised as Morgan. She’d cursed herself for being so stupid; the first proper thought she could recall having since the GJ serum had been administered to her. However, try as she might, she’d failed to deduce why she had tangled with the woman.

The rest of Shego’s morning had been fairly quiet. She’d taken time to get her bearings, including the simple act of finding out the date. She’d then discovered Motor Ed and Señor Senior, Junior, along with a Philip Azear or Mr Phaze as he preferred to be called, sharing the infirmary with her. Each of the villains had been there for the exact same reason; recovering from the various injuries Kim had dished out to them last week. This would have annoyed her, especially when Ed kept referring to her as Green or Babe, if only she’d had the capacity to feel. She’d eaten breakfast; scrambled eggs with toast, accompanied by a glass of orange juice, showered and been given a check-up along with more painkillers. After that, the doctor on duty had decided that she was fit enough to return to cellblock D. Half an hour later and a pair of guards had been restraining her with handcuffs and leg irons, before escorting her out of the infirmary. She’d gone quietly.

Shego walked through the drab grey corridors of cell block D, flanked by her entourage. Her gaze darted here, there and everywhere as she tried to make a mental note of every inmate and guard that she saw. There were several in both groups that she did not recognise. The inmates she didn’t really care about. Most of them would be of the new batch of supervillains that had sprung up since the Lorwardian invasion and would not likely pose her any trouble. As for the guards, she could only assume they had been brought in by Captain Brooks, meaning they were probably cut from a similar cloth. _Best to just avoid them,_ she thought. _Besides, I’m not looking for trouble. I’ll keep my head down until my glow returns enough so that I can escape._ Unfortunately, she could be in for a long wait. The effect of the GJ serum seemed to last longer every time it was administered to her and her glow did not just return overnight. At least not since the earliest batches of the stuff. Instead, she’d wake up one morning and feel a faint spark inside her. Over time, she could not say how long, it would slowly turn into an ember and then a small flame; by which point she would be able to activate her glow but do little with it. As the flame grew, so too would the length of time she’d be able to keep her glow active. When it finally turned into a fire, she would be able to ignite her plasma. However, it would still take time for it to return to full strength, or at least a level strong enough to allow her to break out of jail. She would just need to ensure none of the guards caught her with her glow active. Otherwise, she could well find herself facing a second injection of the GJ serum.

 _At best, I’m probably looking at being stuck here for four months._ During her last proper stint in prison, after Drakken’s Lil’ Diablo scheme, she’d been inside for just over three and a half months before Motor Ed had busted her out. And while she’d been able to use her plasma by that point, she’d wagered she’d been another week away from being strong enough to break out by herself. _However, that’s assuming GJ haven’t managed to improve the serum much over the past two years._

Shego trudged the final few meters towards her cell. While the fog had cleared from around her mind, she did not feel like herself. Instead of a bright green furnace blazing inside her, she felt completely hollow, like her soul had been sucked out, or at least suppressed under a lot of very heavy rubble that would take her a long time to shift. This feeling, or lack thereof, was clear to see in her visage. Her lips were thin, pale, unadorned and formed into a flat line; no hint of a sassy smile or wicked grin. Her cheeks too seemed more concave and were nearly devoid of their green tinge, making them look ghostly white. However, worst of all were her eyes, normally a piercing emerald green with a fire raging behind them, now they were sullen and listless.

“Home sweet home, Cupcake,” one of the guards said with a hint of mockery as they drew up in front of her cell; the door wide open.

If she had been her normal self, Shego probably would have growled at the pet name, given it was one she herself liked to call Kim. However, in her present state, while she heard the man’s words perfectly, she gave absolutely no reaction. The guards then removed her restraints and wandered off, leaving her to walk inside of her own volition. She didn’t have to. With the doors open, the prisoners were allowed to move around the cell block as they saw fit, go out into the yard or partake in one of the activities in the large common room. Only in her current state, Shego had no mind to do any of those things. She’d rather be alone. However, when she stepped inside the cell, she soon discovered that alone would not be an option. On the top bunk, huddled as far away from the door as she could get and with her arms wrapped around her knees, was someone she recognised; Bonnie Rockwaller.

Another fragment of memory popped into Shego’s mind; of seeing the former cheerleader standing in the cell with a look of derision on her face. _Brooks made me cellmates with Kim’s old schoolyard nemesis, why?_ She asked herself the question and was slightly surprised when she came up with the answer. _Kim sent Bonnie to jail on Friday. Given that she’d planned on doing the same to me, she probably thought the idea of us being housed together the worst punishment imaginable, for both of us. And given Brooks’ liking for punishment, she was probably more than happy to oblige._

“What are you doing here?” she heard Bonnie bark the moment a teal gaze landed on her. The girl’s voice matched perfectly with her cornered animal appearance. “This is my cell, get out!”

Shego said nothing as she moved to sit down on the lower bunk. However, she could hear the fear in the girl's voice and for some reason, felt a pang of something akin to sympathy. The deadened reaction a result of her current condition. _She’s just had the biggest culture shock of her life. I wonder what happened to her?_ She could think of a dozen things that might have happened to a first-time inmate to elicit such a response.

“I’m not thanking you if that’s what you’re here for.”

Shego stopped in her tracks and looked up at the brunette. Bonnie had her face turned away, but with one eye trained on her. “Why would you be thanking me?” As she asked the question, she searched her mind for an explanation but found none. _What did I do?_

“I don’t know what twisted game you were playing by swooping in and saving me and I don’t care, just leave me alone.” While Bonnie’s words had been said with venom, the panic in her voice was still palpable.

 _I swooped in and saved her?_ Shego used this new information to scour her clouded memory once more, specifically honing in on the one event she could recall with certainty; being beaten up by Morgan. She saw a brief flash of the Middleton girl being held up against a wall, gagged and with the muscular woman bearing down on her. While she had no context for her own actions, Shego knew that she must have, knowingly or otherwise, interrupted the beating and allowed the girl to escape; receiving blows to her right cheek and abdomen for her trouble. “They were going to seriously hurt you,” she then replied in a low monotone, devoid of any of her normal inflections.

“I can take care of myself,” Bonnie growled. “Besides, aren’t you supposed to be this big, scary supervillain? Why the hell would you care?”

Shego cast her gaze over the girl once more. The information she now had, combined with what she knew about her and the manner in which Bonnie was huddled, painted a clear enough picture for her to evaluate. _She’s come in here with her snide and derisive attitude, said the wrong thing to the wrong person and almost been badly beaten because of it, not realising that the guards don’t see everything. And I’ll bet Morgan’s promised her that she’ll get a hold of her sooner or later. That’s why she’s huddled herself in here. She’s been given the shock of her life yesterday and is now genuinely terrified that Morgan will make good on her threat. And she has every right to be._

“I’m a bad gal, not a bad person,” she eventually replied, not realising that this would require an explanation.

Needless to say, Bonnie replied, “what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Shego thought about this question for a moment and quickly came to a conclusion. _I’ve no idea what I was thinking yesterday, but even in my right mind, I probably would have done the same. She has no clue how to handle herself in prison and no one’s bothered to teach her the rules. And Junior is stuck in the infirmary, so unable to protect her._ She tried to meet the girl’s gaze, but Bonnie had averted it once more. “It means that while I’m a supervillain when on the clock, I’m not automatically horrible to people when off it… and I suppose I’m not willing to just stand by and watch someone beat you to a pulp, just because you haven’t learned the rules yet,” she replied and then sighed internally. _I guess I have softened somewhat since my descent into villainy and Shego became my singular persona. As I can recall a period when I wouldn’t have lifted a finger... I was so angry back then..._

“Yeah, well I’m still not thanking you,” Bonnie spat. “And like I said, I can take care of myself.”

Shego stared at the former cheerleader as realisation dawned on her. _She’s going to get herself killed before Junior gets out of the infirmary and can protect her. And judging by how scared she is and her natural stubbornness, nothing I say is going to have any effect._ Her eyes shifted between the girl and the lower bunk. It would be so easy for her to just lie down, lose herself in her thoughts and allow what passed for nature in cell block D to take its course. For another victim to be claimed by the prison food chain. Except something, perhaps a remnant from her days as a hero, prevented her from doing so. If she had been her normal self, Shego probably would have rolled her eyes and had a thought akin to, _why do I get the distinct impression that this is one of those stupid things I do that I’ll later regret?_ However, at present, her mind was working predominantly on cold logic. Hence, her thought process was simplified to, _she needs a serious reality check._

She stepped forward and stared directly at Bonnie’s averted gaze. “No, you can’t,” she replied deadpan and, in a flash, reached out and grabbed the front of the girl’s jumpsuit. In one fluid motion, she wrenched the girl off of the top bunk and slammed her, not too hard, against the wall, one hand holding her several inches above the floor. Bonnie let out a yell, but it was quickly silenced when Shego pressed her free forearm against her neck. She could see the girl’s face properly now. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy from crying and a nasty purple bruise had started to form on her right cheek. It seemed that today, someone had landed at least one blow upon her. However, neither this nor the girl’s panicked expression elicited any sort of emotional response or changed Shego’s approach to the situation.

“You need to listen carefully. This isn’t high school or some fancy social event that Junior has taken you to. You’re in jail and not just any jail, but the one reserved for the country’s most prolific supervillains and sidekicks.” Every word she spoke was in the same slow monotone, not a hint of inflection to be found. However, from the look of sheer terror in Bonnie’s eyes, it was still more than enough to garner her full attention. Thus, Shego continued, “it doesn’t matter that you’re a first offender and don’t belong here, because this is where you’re stuck. So, you either need to learn the rules quickly, or you’re dead. And if you’re hoping to tough it out until Junior gets out of the infirmary, I’ve got bad news for you. I woke up there this morning and saw him. He’s not likely going to be discharged for another two weeks, which is more than enough time for Morgan, or any number of other villains, to kill you. Do you understand?”

She decreased the pressure exerted on Bonnie’s throat just enough so that the girl could frantically nod.

“Good,” Shego replied in the same voice. Even if she’d wanted to, the ability to sound threatening or to exhibit any form of kindness was beyond her soulless, hollow self. “And if this hasn’t been enough to terrify you, know that I can’t even list all the possible ways I could kill you right now.”

Carefully, she lowered the now shaking girl back down to the ground. Releasing her grip, she took a step back to give Bonnie some breathing space. It was only while watching her suck in some much-needed air, that Shego gave any thought to the notion that she could have caused the girl to take a full-blown panic attack. _Seems like Bonnie’s made of sterner stuff than I would have imagined. If she’s smart and can learn to swallow some of that pride of hers, she might just survive._ She sat down on the bottom bunk and waited a few more moments before she said, “have a seat,” and indicated the spot beside her.

The expression on Bonnie’s face when she looked back at her, suggested that the sudden change from being pinned against a wall and told she could be, ‘killed in numerous ways,’ to, ‘come sit beside me,’ had given her whiplash. Thus, it came as no surprise that the girl’s actions held a great deal of trepidation as she stepped forward and sat down. The, ‘killed in numerous ways,’ part, clearly having been a strong motivator in her acquiescing to the request.

Shego was about to open her mouth to start explaining how things worked, but paused on once more staring at the panic-stricken expression on Bonnie’s face. While she currently lacked the capability of expressing or properly feeling emotion, that did not mean her brain no longer worked. And even logic told her that she needed to bridge the gap between the two of them or it would be a wasted effort. She’d simply come across as just another bully dictating what the girl could and could not do.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Shego said. While the words were correct, she was unable to manage the gentle tone that one would normally use when approaching a wounded and cornered animal. Before Bonnie managed to muster the courage to growl something counterproductive, she continued, “but I needed to get the point across.”

This time her brief pause was enough for the girl to spit acridly, “what point might that be? That like everyone else, you’re going to beat the shit out of me?”

“No,” she replied calmly. “That, like everyone else, I **can** beat the shit out of you.” While she used the expletive, it had been purely as a direct recitation of Bonnie’s own words. The use of such language typically required some sort of feeling behind it and at present, she had none to give. “However, I’m not going to.”

“What, so long as I be your little bitch?” Bonnie snapped. “I’m not stupid. I’ve seen some prison films and TV shows. You offer me protection from everyone else, so long as I let you use me how you please. Well, no thanks. I’d rather be everyone’s punching bag than your bitch.”

Though she had rather thick skin, the insinuation might have been rather cutting, had Shego been her normal self. Instead, she simply brushed it off and said, “I don’t want anything from you, simply to help you. However, it would not be a bad idea for everyone to think that. But I’ll get to that in a moment.”

Bonnie looked at her warily, again giving off the wounded animal vibe. Only this time that of one who had not eaten in days and was being offered a scrap of food. She desperately needed the offering but was fearful of a trap. “I don’t believe you,” the girl replied, though there was a definite hint of desperation in her tone. Like she wanted to believe Shego’s claim, but self-preservation was telling her not to. “Why would you want to help me, especially if you don’t want anything in return?”

It wasn’t much, but Bonnie had at least given her an opening. A chance to show that her offering did not have a trap hidden somewhere. “Because you need help to survive and no one else is going to give it to you.”

The expression on the former cheerleader’s face suggested that she was about to reiterate her misguided belief that she didn’t need anyone’s help, however, before any words escaped from her mouth, her dark scowl lighted slightly. “Even if that is true, it doesn’t explain why **you** would help me for nothing.”

Shego paused on hearing the statement. The fact of the matter was, she didn’t really know herself. _Why am I willing to help her out?_ She asked herself the question, but her mind provided little in the way of a concrete answer. Nevertheless, she gave Bonnie something that resembled a logical answer. “I have a strong dislike for the people who decided that you merited being put in here.”

“That bitch Kim? Tell me something I don’t know,” Bonnie growled, her hatred for her old classmate seemingly now deeper than what Shego had observed while teaching at Middleton high as Miss Go.

At the mention of her rival, Shego felt a small spark ignite inside her and she experienced a brief flash of both lust and hate towards the hero. She could recall the warmth and desire that had come from being wrapped in the girl’s embrace, but also the pain and humiliation she had endured while in the custody of GJ; whom Kim had brought down upon herself and Dr Drakken. However, as quickly as the spark had ignited, it died. Leaving her once more feeling hollow.

In her slow monotone, Shego replied, “I’m not talking about Kim. While she handed you over to the police, it would have been on the orders of Global Justice that you were incarcerated here.”

For the first time, Bonnie looked slightly intrigued by what she had said. “Global Justice? I heard Senior talk about them once, but I didn’t believe him. Actually, I’m not sure if he sounded entirely certain that they existed.”

“They exist all right,” Shego confirmed, “and with the increased rise in villain activity ever since the Lorwardian invasion, they’re slowly being dragged out of the shadows. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if they made the bold move to go public, in order to try and calm the public. However, that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that they’ll have been the ones who decided you merited being locked up with all the big villains and sidekicks.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you’d help me.”

“I don’t like them or their boss,” Shego said matter-of-factly. “And they’ve put you in here when you neither deserve it nor can handle it. So, I’m going to help you survive, at least until Junior gets out of the infirmary.” It was a weak argument, but since the full answer eluded her, Shego could not give a better one.

The look she received told her that Bonnie did not like being told she couldn’t handle something. And her words betrayed more than a hint of scepticism, “so, you helping me is your way of saying fuck you to Global Justice?”

That wasn’t it, but if that explanation was enough to bridge the gap between them, Shego would go along with it. “Something like that.” 

It still seemed with reluctance that Bonnie replied, “fine.” However, whether the girl liked it or not, at least she had accepted that she did indeed need help.

“Ok. First things first, do not anger the guards, especially Captain Brooks,” Shego said, leading with the obvious and something the girl might already have learned.”

“Yeah, I figured that one out by myself,” Bonnie snorted, before asking, “how does she get away with the way she treats us? It’s a violation of our human rights. Can’t we talk to a lawyer or something?”

Had she the capacity to do so, Shego would have laughed at the girl’s naivety. Instead, she simply replied, “once you end up here, no one cares about you or your human rights anymore. Most of the villains incarcerated in this facility have tried to take over the world at least once. Something that stops people caring about you. In fact, a lot of people, including many in law enforcement and the justice system, probably think Brooks isn’t hard enough on us.”

Bonnie’s eyes widened at this idea, further emphasising how green she was when it came to supervillain jail.

When the girl in front of her just stared at her, Shego continued, “do not get on the wrong side of Captain Brooks. She isn’t grandstanding whenever she lists things she might do to you. All her threats are very real. She’ll never be your friend, but you can make her less of an enemy if you follow her rules and be polite to her whenever she addresses you. And whatever you do, do not forget to call her sir.”

“Yeah, she drilled that one into me yesterday,” Bonnie said bitterly. “She’s like a brutal version of Mr Barkin.”

Shego just let the remark pass without commentary. “The same applies to the guards, though I doubt any of them are as bad as Brooks herself. While they don’t see everything, the last thing you need is for one of them to turn a blind eye when you’re in a bind, just because you’ve given them cause to dislike you.”

“Fine, don’t piss off the guards, is that it?”

“No, the inmates are a far bigger problem. Most of them are stuck here for life and with no chance of parole. So, unlike the guards, there isn’t a limit on what they might do to you if you cross them, because they’ve got little else left to lose.” Shego elected to leave out the part about how many of the inmates enjoyed beating people up. “Which means you’ll need to drop your snide and derisive attitude, or you’ll annoy far too many people.”

Bonnie huffed and opened her mouth to say something, but promptly closed it again.

“My advice would be to keep your head down, avoid contact with people as much as possible and be polite to anyone you have to interact with.”

“I thought they beat up people who act nice in prisons? Aren’t you supposed to act all tough?”

“While the nice ones sometimes get beaten up, you’ll have better odds than if you act tough and mouth off, but don’t have the skill to back it up,” Shego answered. “And you don’t have the skill to back it up.”

“So, what your saying is, I’m boned either way,” Bonnie grunted. The girl motioned to turn away as she snorted, “thanks for telling me that it’s inevitable that I’ll get beat up again.”

Shego slowly extended a hand and caught the girl’s shoulder. “Not necessarily. Like when you were in high school, there’s a social pyramid and while you might be at the bottom, if you are with someone who is near the top, everyone else will think twice about touching you.”

“Let me guess, you’re at the top,” the former cheerleader snorted.

The nature of the girl’s comment was such that Shego actually managed a small sigh of exasperation. “Haven’t you been listening to me? Like it or not, Captain Brooks is at the top of this pyramid, with her guards directly below her. However, amongst the inmates, I’m in the top bracket. If you’re with me, no one will touch you. You’ll be safe until such a time as people forget any beefs they might have with you, or Junior is let out of the infirmary.”

“I already told you, I’m not going to be your little bitch,” Bonnie spat.

“And I already told you I’m not interested in that. I just want to help you out. However, if that’s the conclusion people draw, let them. They certainly won’t touch you then.” Shego stared Bonnie directly in her teal eyes and tried in vain to make her sullen gaze appear deadly serious. “What’s more important to you, your pride or your life?”

A sour expression formed on the girl’s face as she weighed up the two options. Shego knew from both her time as Miss Go and from her other interactions with Bonnie, that she had almost the same level of stubbornness as herself and Kim and that her pride meant everything to her. Hence, it came as no surprise that the choice between swallowing it or the very real threat of further beatings was agonising. Eventually, after much deliberation, Bonnie finally answered, “fine, I’ll hang around with you. But I’m still not thanking you for yesterday.”

“I didn’t ask you to,” Shego replied. She looked at the girl’s expression, satisfied that the lesson seemed to have sunk in to some extent.

She watched Bonnie stand up and move to climb onto the top bunk. Her soulless and logical mind immediately spotted a problem with this and so she too got to her feet. “You can’t have the top bunk,” she said, causing the girl to turn and stare daggers at her.

“I already told you, it’s mine. I was here first.”

Shego simply stared at Bonnie with her sullen gaze. “In prison, it’s a sign of dominance and it’ll draw far too much unwanted attention if you have it.” In her normal state, she would have laid claim to the top bunk day one and taken it by force if needs be. Only she had no mind to do so if she could avoid it and no actual desire for it beyond the reason she had just stated.

Bonnie glared back at her and looked absolutely livid. The very idea of being submissive to someone must have seemed abhorrent. However, after a few tense moments, during which Shego thought she might actually need to use force, the girl finally backed down. “Fine, take the stupid bunk.”

Crisis averted, Shego claimed her prize, while Bonnie sat back down on the bunk below. Silence passed between them for a few minutes allowing the background noise from cellblock D to fill their cell. Resting her head back against the pillow, which had a faint smell of lavender, presumably from the former cheerleader’s shampoo, Shego stared up at the ceiling. _Well, that wasn’t what I’d intended to do with the rest of my morning._ Granted, she’d not planned on doing anything other than lying down on her bunk and losing herself in her own thoughts. She’d found that some time alone helped her adjust to the hollow feeling. Thus, to start fighting against it. To begin the arduous task of clawing her way through the metaphorical pile of rubble until she rediscovered her spark.

“So, what’s wrong with you?” Bonnie’s voice from the lower bunk caught Shego by surprise and drew her out of her musings. “I thought you were supposed to be this sassy, badass villainess. Not some sort of mindless robot.”

“Call it a bad drug reaction,” she replied. While not a lie, she did not want to divulge the truth to anyone. Her glow and the forced suppression of it were far too personal a subject for her to discuss.

To her surprise, Bonnie drew her own conclusion and did not pry further. “Urgh, don’t get me started on dodgy painkillers. I broke my arm back in eighth grade and my stupid doctor gave me these drugs that had me totally whacked out. However, I am so not hanging out with you if you’re going to be this dull all the time. So, you’d better get your shit together or else.”

Again, the opportunity to laugh passed her by. “I’ll try,” Shego replied in the same slow monotone.

“You’d better.”

That was the end of the conversation and her very weird morning back in cellblock D. And while she’d not even recalled being cellmates with Bonnie, let alone intended to take the girl under her wing, she wondered if it could help her in the long run. Genuine human contact with someone who wasn’t Dr Drakken might just help her rediscover her spark sooner. At worst, it couldn’t hurt… right?


	46. S204 (U1): Where do I go from here?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so final chapter for this update and Pink Floyd snag the chapter title for the third time. I took the line, where do we go from here? from the song What do you want from me, from the bands 1994 album The Division Bell and simply replaced we with I. In relation to the chapter, it is a question that Kim is still very much trying to figure out an answer to. Anyway, enjoy.

It was Monday morning and Middleton was still in the throughs of a summer storm. Rain lashed against everything and there was so little sunlight that it could easily have been mistaken for late evening. Up in the penthouse apartment, Kim Possible was sat in an armchair; a plate of toaster tarts resting on her knees. While this would seem like something completely ordinary, for the renowned world hero, it was anything but. It had just gone ten-thirty and everything about this morning had been wrong.

The first deviation had actually occurred the previous night, when she had purposefully not set her alarm clock. This had resulted in her sleeping in, something that until her recent spell of captivity at the Possible residence, would have been completely unheard of for her, at least since she had turned pro-hero. Naturally, this had resulted in her skipping her morning workout for the second day running. Once awake, she’d gone to the kitchen and instead of her normal high energy healthy breakfast, made herself some of the toaster tarts she’d bought at the store the previous day. However, these were only small deviations when compared to the fact that it was ten-thirty on a Monday morning and she had not already left for a mission.

The temptation had been there. Lingering in the back of her mind like a mousetrap bated with the tastiest of morsels. And every few hours the previous day, she’d almost succumbed and chewed down on it. Gone to her PC, accepted a mission and jetted off for an adrenaline hit. Leaving her problems behind in Middleton to be dealt with never. Somehow, Kim had forced herself to stay put, knowing that she needed to sort out her head. Thus, late last night, after binge-watching re-runs of Pals, she’d made the unprecedented decision to take today off. Unfortunately, it had done her no good thus far. Her mind was no less at sea than it had been yesterday.

Kim bit into the hot toaster tart and felt the almost scalding strawberry goodness touch her tongue. It lit up her taste buds in a way that only something crammed full of sugar and fat could; it tasted heavenly. _God, I’ve missed these._ A faint smile formed on her face and for the time it took her to eat the first of her two pastries, she was content. Only the feeling did not last. The dark, looming conglomeration of all her problems once again making itself known with the thought, _I haven’t had a toaster tart since I lived with Ron. And they were not the only goodies her kept in the kitchen cupboards. In fact, if it wasn’t something I’d bought myself, anything I picked up was unhealthy and oh so tempting._

Kim let out a long sigh, _of all the problems I have, Ron is the one I have the least chance of doing something about._ Her gaze then fell on the naked-mole-shark that lay sleeping on her sofa. While not actually Rufus, Ru-Ru was close enough to serve as a living reminder of her former best friend. However, the creature, while sharing a lot of similarities with Ron’s naked-mole-rat, had a personality all of his own. Whether it was a result of being spliced with a shark, living with Shego or something else entirely, Ru-Ru had both a sneaky and vicious streak that Rufus lacked. Not to mention a short temper.

When she had finally come home from her trip to Mama Joy’s and Smarty Mart yesterday, she’d found the creature awake and in a foul mood because there had been nothing for him to eat. He’d come bounding off the sofa, ripped open one of her shopping bags and tried to make off with a small block of cheese. She’d managed to stop him, promptly confiscated it and told him he would get nothing if he didn’t behave. It had been enough to get him to toe the line for a time, however, they had clashed again over use of the TV and at one point, while she had been in the bathroom; he had changed the channel and hidden the remote.

Kim watched as Ru-Ru stirred on the couch, rolled over and let out a loud yawn as he stretched out his paws. “Morning,” she said in a pleasant tone, hoping that they had simply gotten off on the wrong foot yesterday and could put their disagreements behind them. After all, she still had no idea what to do with him long term. Given that it could be months before Shego managed to break out of jail. _Shego…_ even whispering her rival’s name inside her head brought about a torrent of mixed emotions that she had no idea how to begin dealing with. _No, deal with that later. A more pressing problem has just woken up on your sofa._

“Rah, rah, rah,” Ru-Ru exclaimed by way of a response as he sat up. The creature looked exceptionally grumpy.

Kim couldn’t help but chuckle, “I guess you’re not a morning sort of creature.”

“Rah,” the naked-mole-shark grunted as he got to his feet. His beady black eyes then focused on her and had she known him better, she would have noticed the glint in them as he licked his lips.

She watched, as the creature wandered across the sofa towards her, hopped up onto the arm and jumped the gap to her chair. “Ok...” she said in confusion, unaware of his intentions. Before she had the chance to enquire as to what on earth he was doing, Ru-Ru jumped down into her lap and swiped the second toaster tart from her plate. “Hey, that’s mine!” she yelled as the naked-mole-shark dived onto the coffee table.

Ru-Ru turned to look at her, uttered, “ut-uh, Princess,” and scampered off.

“Oh no you don’t,” Kim exclaimed and shot after him. Sprawling over the coffee table and knocking her plate, a mug of coffee and some coasters to the floor, she caught him around his pink body at full stretch. “Got you!”

Ru-Ru met her gaze, her toaster tart held above his head and grinned wickedly at her. Before she even realised the danger, the naked-mole-shark sunk his teeth into her hand. “ARGH!” she cried in pain, as her hand instinctively opened and dropped him to the floor. She received a raspberry before the creature shot off with his prize.

Blood had already started to run down her hand by the time Kim managed to get back onto her feet. Ru-Ru was nowhere in sight. “You little shit,” she yelled in frustration, eyes scanning the room for any sign of him. _While there’s no way I’m eating that toaster tart now, I need to catch the sod on point of principle._ She quickly ran to the bathroom, rinsed her throbbing hand under the tap and tied a makeshift bandage over the wound. It would need a proper clean, lest she want it to end up like the cut on her leg that had gotten massively infected, however, that could wait. Going to her workroom, she put on her aviators and Kimmunicator. Because the former had so many different modes now, she needed the latter to control them. She set the sunglasses to thermal scan, then selected a grapple that had a grabbing claw on the end. _Let’s go hunting._

Armed and ready, Kim returned to the living room and quickly started to scan the room, looking for a naked-mole-shark shaped heat signature. A smile formed on her lips when she located him underneath the sofa; the definition on her glasses good enough to show her that he was halfway through her toaster tart. Getting down onto her knees, she turned off thermal vision and aimed the grapple at him.

Ru-Ru tilted his head in her direction, clearly having sensed something was wrong and squeaked, “yikes!”

Kim fired the grapple at the naked-mole-shark, who dived out of the way at the last second. “Dammit,” she cursed and quickly retracted the claw. However, Ru-Ru was not prepared to hang around for her to try again and he bolted out from under the sofa. She shot back onto her feet and leapt up onto the sofa. “Get over here!” she yelled as she fired the grabber at him again, but missed. By the time the claw had returned this time, the naked-mole-shark was out of sight. She switched her aviators back to thermal mode and began scanning again, eventual locating him in the kitchen. The sneaky sod had managed to climb up onto the counter and then somehow up into one of the pots that hung down in the glassless window between the kitchen and living room.

“You can’t hide, Ru-Ru,” she said as she raised the grapple and lined up the shot. She squeezed the trigger, just as she declared, “I can see you!”

The grapple ricocheted off the bottom of the pot with a satisfying clang and seconds later, a still vibrating naked-mole-shark fell out of it and onto the countertop. Kim leapt forward, grabbed the pot from its hook and brought it down atop him; trapping him underneath. She then picked up a heavy stone mortar and pestle, a strange housewarming gift from her grandmother, and sat it atop the pot. Satisfied that Ru-Ru would not be getting out without her say so, she leisurely headed into the kitchen proper and opened the refrigerator. She had just plucked out a can of cola when she heard the hammering of tiny fists against the inside of the pot.

“I’ll let you out once you’ve calmed down and are ready to apologise,” she said and cracked open the can of soda.

The pounding continued for a full five minutes as she stood and drank her beverage. When it eventually stopped, Kim removed the stone weight and carefully tilted the pot, fully expecting,

“RAH!” Ru-Ru made a dive for freedom, but she was wise to him and quickly slammed the pot down and replaced the weight. A string of unintelligible curses followed as the naked-mole-shark began beating his fists against the pot wall again.

“I told you, calm down and then I’ll let you out,” she said firmly.

Kim had enough time to procure and consume a cookie and finish her soda before the kitchen fell silent once more. She waited another minute, before asking, “all done?”

“Uh-hu,” Ru-Ru uttered in defeat, sounding exhausted.

Kim once more lifted the mortar and pestle and slowly tilted the pot. This time the naked-mole-shark did not make a break for freedom. She gave him a stern look. “Well, aren’t you in a heap of trouble. I’ve a good mind to package you up and FedEx you straight to Amy. I’m sure she’d be overjoyed to have a missing part of her collection returned.”

A look of panic formed on Ru-Ru’s face at the mention of his creator and he gulped.

“So, not a fan of going back to Amy, perfect,” Kim said, her educated guess having hit the bull’s-eye. “I guess if you don’t want that to happen, you’re going to have to play by my rules. This isn’t Shego’s place. Which means you don’t get to monopolise the TV **or** steal my food. And don’t even think about trying to bite me again, got it?”

Ru-Ru reluctantly nodded and then said in a slightly downtrodden voice, “uh-hu.”

Kim stared at the naked-mole-shark. _He genuinely looks sad. I wonder if…_ She gave him a sympathetic smile, “do you miss Shego?”

She received another nod and a slight sniff that she could not be sure was genuine or just an attempt to curry sympathy. Regardless, without realising what she was saying, replied, “I know, I’ll probably end up missing her too. However, I’m sure she’ll find a way out of jail in a couple of months… she always does,” she trailed off as she recalled what Shego had said happened to her when she got arrested. _GJ will have used that serum on her to suppress her glow and if they’ve managed to improve it, she might be stuck in there for six months… or longer._

Ru-Ru then uttered a single word, “jailbreak?”

However, Kim completely misinterpreted his meaning and so replied, “yeah, either she’ll break out by herself or one of the other villains will spring her.” As soon as she made the comment, she had the thought, _that’s not likely going to happen, given how many of them I’ve put in jail recently. Not unless Se_ _ñor Senior, Senior decided to break Junior and Bonnie out and she manages to hitch a ride._

Ru-Ru shook his head and pointed up at her, “Kimmie jailbreak?”

She looked at him in disbelief, “wait, what? You want me to break her out?”

The naked-mole-shark nodded his head emphatically, “uh-hu, uh-hu.”

“No way! I can’t do that!” she exclaimed, slightly in shock at the very suggestion. It wasn’t true of course. She could break Shego out. There wasn’t a facility on the planet she had yet encountered that she could not break into if needs be. Except for perhaps Global Justice HQ. However, she did occasionally feel an itch to try. After all, she could do anything.

Ru-Ru looked at her pointedly, his expression telling her that he knew what she had said was a lie.

“Ok, so I have the ability to break Shego out of prison, that doesn’t mean to say that I can on a moral level. I’m a hero, I send supervillains to jail, not break them out. Regardless of how I feel, Shego’s got a rap sheet several miles long and has been sentenced to god knows how many years in prison because of it. It’s where she…” she trailed off and not because of the sour expression on the naked-mole-shark’s face. _I know she’s done a lot of bad things but she doesn’t deserve to be in jail…_ the thought caught her completely unawares. _Holy crap, I kiss her once and all of a sudden my view on her has changed? How the hell does that work?_ The answer came quickly, _no, it’s not just because we made out. I’ve viewed her differently ever since that first night in Spritzers... ever since I started getting to know the actual person. Urgh, why is every relationship in my life so complicated?_

From the kitchen counter, she heard the ding, ding, ding, of Ru-Ru repeatedly hitting a wooden spoon off of the pot. The noise was enough to snap her out of her musings and she stared at the naked-mole-shark, who met her gaze with beady black eyes. “Your fault!” he exclaimed with a stern expression.

“What?” Kim asked in slight confusion.

Ru-Ru folded his paws across his chest. “Shego. Your fault!”

Her face fell slightly when she interoperated his meaning. _He’s right. It is my fault. I was hell-bent on beating the shit out of Shego and sending her broken body to jail. If only I hadn’t of put that call into Wade to try and get the area around Mount St Helens evacuated._ She shook her head. _There’s nothing I can do about that now._ “I’m sorry, Ru-Ru, but I can’t go and break a supervillain out of jail… I’m a hero.”

The naked-mole-shark huffed and blew her a raspberry.

Kim was about to attempt to placate him with some cheese when her Kimmunicator beeped. Without thinking, she automatically answered, “go, Wade.”

“Morning, Kim, I’ve got a… are you still in your pyjamas?”

She glanced down at her attire, the same lilac pyjamas she’d worn since coming home on Saturday. “Yeah,” she replied and gave him a smile, “you like them?”

The gearhead’s cheeks darkened and for a moment he looked rather flustered. “I wasn’t staring at them, I just happened to notice.”

Kim laughed, “you can’t help noticing things, can you?”

Wade shook his head, “what can I say, I’m the perceptive sort. Anyway, why are you in your pyjamas? Aren’t you usually on route to a mission site by this time on a Monday morning?”

“I decided to take the day off,” Kim replied offhandedly. “Last week was super busy and I lost my Saturday to Shego and Drakken. I need the R‘n’R.” I wasn’t a total lie. While the main reason she’d stayed at home was to sort out her head, the rest would not go amiss after the gruelling week she’d just had.

Wade looked at her with suspicion. “Was your meeting with Betty that taxing?”

“How did you know I met with Betty?” she asked, before quickly adding, “are you spying on me via the Kimmunicator?” It was a valid question. Wade could quite easily listen in to any of her conversations when she wore it. She trusted him not to, but the thought sometimes crossed her mind before he explained how he knew something she had thought had been private.

“Of course not,” Wade replied, sounding both slightly offended and relieved that she had not shouted at him. “Remember, I was the one who called GJ and got them to come out. Betty said she’d deal with it personally and it doesn’t take someone with my IQ to figure out that it was just an excuse to talk to you.”

“Sorry, Wade,” she apologised.

However, the tech guru ignored her and continued with his train of thought. “It’s a good thing I predicted Drakken’s lightning-ray was liable to blow up and cause the volcano to erupt so GJ could figure out a countermeasure.”

As Kim listened to Wade talk, his words dragged to the surface something that had been nagging at her since Saturday, but that she hadn’t been able to devote any headspace to. _I only called Wade just before I escaped the volcano. So how on earth did GJ get there so quick and with something to stop it erupting?_ She stared at the boy on the screen and said, “I told you that the volcano was going to blow,” however, her brain was already putting two and two together.

A few beads of sweat began to form on Wade’s forehead as he said, “you were going into an active volcano… it was really dangerous…”

Kim cut him off, “you’d already called GJ well before I asked you to get help to clear the area, didn’t you?”

She didn’t need to hear Wade stammer, “Kim, I only did what I thought was best,” to know it was true.

“Why the hell did you do that, Wade?” she yelled, her fists balling as a surge of last week’s anger shot through her.

Surprisingly, the gearhead held his ground and did not back away from the screen. “Kim, you were acting so irresponsibly last week that I was worried something was going to happen to you. So, I called Global Justice to come and back you up and it was the right call. If I hadn’t, Mount St Helens would have blown and caused a lot of damage to the surrounding area and could even have killed someone.”

If this conversation had taken place before her altercation with Shego, Kim’s anger would have completely blinded her and she would have lashed out at her friend. However, she had cooled down considerably since then and even though she’d just suffered a residual flash, it no longer controlled her nor did it prevent her from seeing the bigger picture. “You’re right, Wade,” she sighed. “The situation was dangerous and I couldn’t have stopped that volcano erupting by myself.” She hesitated before saying sincerely, “I’m sorry for snapping at you and…” Kim lowered her head, “I’m sorry about last week too. I was so angry at mom, Monique and Shego, that I started to lose control. I treated you like shit and I’m really sorry.”

“Apology accepted, Kim. However, you have to be more careful and sometimes you really do need to listen to the people around you. We are only trying to help and you’re not always right.”

It was difficult for Kim to ever admit that she was wrong, however, in this instance, hearing Wade accept her apology made her feel like the dark mass of problems that was looming in the back of her mind had shrunk ever so slightly. “I’ll be more careful in future,” she then replied. “So, what did you actually call for?”

“That’s good to hear. Anyway, I got a mission request in for you.”

Kim frowned, “why didn’t they just post it on the site?”

“It’s from a colleague. They figured they’d have better luck if they came via me. So, interested?” Wade asked.

She hesitated for a moment; mind torn in two. Eventually, she replied, “is it urgent? I kinda am having a day off and I am in my pyjamas.” While she asked the question, she knew that it didn’t matter. _I can’t go out on any mission until I deal with some of my problems._

“If you mean, is it a stop an evil villain from taking over the world kind of job, no,” the boy answered with a grin. “Don’t worry about it. You of all people deserve a day off. I’ll let my colleague know that you’re indisposed at the moment and that you’ll get back to me when you’re free.”

“Thanks, Wade. I’ll get back to you tomorrow, promise. Talk to you then.”

She moved her finger to hang up, however, the gearhead quickly said, “Kim, before you go…”

“Yes?”

“Please consider at least calling your mom. I know she is really worried about you and it would really put her mind at ease to hear that you’re ok; from you personally.”

Kim’s expression darkened somewhat on hearing the request. “She crossed a line this time, Wade, and I’m not sure I can forgive her.”

Her friend sighed and she suspected that when he hung up, he was going to have to relay the bad news to her mom. “At least think about it, Kim. Consider it my apology present from you.”

She grit her teeth at the boy’s nerve, but politely replied, “I’ll think about it,” however, neglected to say, _after I’ve dealt with all my other issues._

“Thanks, Kim. Talk to you tomorrow.”

“Later, Wade.”

The Kimmunicator screen went blank.

Kim lowered her wrist and found Ru-Ru staring up at her from the countertop. She’d almost forgotten about him. “Were you eavesdropping?” she asked in annoyance.

The naked-mole-shark held up his claws in the ‘little bit’ gesture and said, “kinda.”

She rolled her eyes, however, said, “well, you heard Wade. He’s the one responsible for GJ showing up and arresting Shego, not me.” She might have made the assertion but felt no less guilty about what had happened. _Why do I still feel responsible?_

Ru-Ru gave her a smile that showed off all of his razor-sharp shark teeth and then said hopefully, “jailbreak?”

Kim sighed and found it harder than it should have been to say, “we’ve been through this already. I can’t go and break Shego out of jail,” _…I just can’t._

Ru-Ru blew her another raspberry and stalked off towards the far edge of the countertop and climbed down to the floor using the wine rack.

She chose to leave him alone and headed off to her workroom to put her naked-mole-shark hunting gear away. When she was done, Kim cleaned and bandaged her new bite mark, then headed back to the sofa and began to channel surf. About fifteen minutes later, her attempt at trying the ‘normal’ person approach to a day off was interrupted by the sound of her doorbell. _Who on earth is that?_ She stood up and crossed the apartment. _It can’t be Wade, as I’ve just spoken to him. Did he message mom the moment he discovered I was at home?_ Her mom did seem the most likely person to come and visit her, especially given what had just happened over the weekend. She didn’t even think to look through the peep-hole as she unlocked the door and opened it. However, it wasn’t her mom standing there. In fact, had she drawn up a list of people, the individual in question would have been at the very bottom, even below the currently incarcerated Shego and Drakken. It was Ron.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so there you have it, season two is officially underway. What did everyone think?
> 
> Chapter one was quite interesting and actually rather difficult to write, given that the POV character was virtually a bystander for the whole thing. I’ve never had to write a chapter like that before for anything, however, I think it turned out quite well in the end and conveyed that strong sense of absence that Shego is feeling. Chapter three was also a bit tricky, as trying to write Shego’s thoughts and dialogue without any of her personality creeping into it was really weird and I actually had to rewrite bits as I was going to remove any trace of it. Hopefully, I’ll be able to move her on fairly soon and get that sass and sarcasm back, lol.
> 
> On Kim’s side, chapter two was also quite a challenge, given just how much happened to her at the back end of season one and now she has to try and make sense of it all. It took a bit of time, but I managed to convey how she’s feeling, without laying waste to my plan from the off, lol. And then chapter four... I loved writing the scene with Ru-Ru and showing off the contrast between how he is with Shego and Kim. And I could not resist throwing in the Mortal Kombat reference when Kim was trying to grapple him ;p. I’d say Scorpion for the win, but I was always more of a Sub-Zero fan (although Sonya was my gal in MK5: Deadly Alliance). However, the real bombshell was the appearance of Ron at the end. As I said to some of you in the comments during season one, it has always been my intention to include Ron in this story (given how important a character he is in Kim’s life), I just struggled to bring him into it beyond his brief appearance way back in chapter nine. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until the next update to find out how this meeting goes down. Lol, as I type this, I can hear the Mortal Kombat announcer say in my head, “Kim Possible wins. Fatality!” …make of that what you will. 
> 
> Thank you all again for your support. It is great to be back and to have shared this first update with you all. I hope to see you in a week or two for the next update. 
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


	47. S205 (U2): The echo of a distant time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys, welcome back. I don’t know about everyone else, but it’s been a long two weeks for me. As promised, here is the second update of season two. This week I’m bringing you another set of four chapters for you all to sink your teeth into. So, I hope you all enjoy.
> 
> Before I start (yeah you know the drill by now, lol) thank you all for your support and all the kudos and comments. I always enjoy reading and responding to them. It really means a lot to hear from you all and it gives me that extra boost to keep writing And You And I.
> 
> First up is chapter five: The echo of a distant time. The chapter title is taken from the lyrics to Pink Floyd’s twenty-three-minute epic Echoes, from their Meddle album, a track which is all about connecting with other human beings and showing them empathy rather than antipathy. A concept which is quite fitting for this chapter. So, without further delay, let’s get started. Enjoy.

Kim’s mouth fell open when she saw the blonde-haired boy that stood on her doormat and her brain ground to a halt halfway through uttering, “what are you…”

Ron, dressed in baggy, khaki-green cargo pants and a black raincoat, which was soaking wet and dripping water all over the place, looked just as shocked to see her, even though he’d been the one to ring her doorbell. However, he managed to raise his left hand, squint at it for a few seconds and read, “Rim, I bink wee shoooo,” he then exclaimed in exasperation, “oh come on, I spent ages writing that! The packet said that pen was waterproof!”

A cocktail of emotions, with more ingredients in it than a Long Island iced tea and including joy, sorrow, anger, fear and love, flooded through Kim at the sight of her former best friend trying to read something he’d written on his hand, which had clearly smudged. However, the moment he started yelling at his misfortune, one thing cut through all the rest and she could not help herself. She began to laugh. Everything about the situation was just so… well, so Ron.

“It’s **not** funny, Kim! Do you know how hard it is to write a whole pile of stuff on your hand? Do you?” Ron exclaimed.

Without even thinking, Kim quickly replied, “no, because I never had to cheat on a test.”

“Well, it’s not easy. And those pens were supposed to be waterproof, Kim. Waterproof!”

“That’ll teach you to buy Smarty Mart own brand then, won’t it.”

“This is serious, KP. A guy could lose complete faith in an entire brand when they make such false claims about a single product.”

Just like that, for those few brief moments, it felt like the clock had been dialled back and they were in high school again. That none of the anger, bitterness or hate had touched their relationship. In this instance, it had been a classic case of Ron becoming overly indignant about something and her poking fun at him, serving only to ratchet up his irritation. And Kim dearly wished she could simply forget all the bad blood between them. Except there was just too much of it for that to happen. And like any echo, this one from their past quickly faded.

She looked pointedly at her former best friend, the moment having passed. “Ron, what are you doing here?” she asked. While she kept her tone level, she could not stop herself phrasing the question in her own head as, _what the fuck is he doing here?_

Ron too seemed to have remembered himself as his expression turned properly serious. A strange sight to be sure. For Ron was almost your classic Oscar Wilde character. Someone who handled the serious things in life with great triviality and the trivial things with great seriousness. Yet here he was, treating a serious thing seriously. _Maybe if he had done that during our relationship, we…_ Kim almost laughed at the thought, as her mind quickly countered, w _hat, stayed together? Plodded on as you were, while you became ever more awkward in the bedroom, yet blissfully unaware that you’re gay? Geeze, I wonder how that would have worked out?_

The sound of Ron’s voice drew her out of her thought process. “I think we should talk,” he said. His tone was flat and she suspected that he too was trying to suppress the negative feelings that seeing each other had started to drag to the surface.

On hearing his words, Kim immediately recalled the last time they had ‘talked’ and felt an echo of the anger his final words and ignited inside her. And she could not help hearing them all over again, in that callous and cruel voice that had been so un-Ron, _“you’ve spent so much time fighting Shego, yet you’re just like her. I’d tell you to go and hook up with her, but I doubt even she’d be able to heat up someone so frigid.”_

Kim stared at Ron, a fire having just lit up in her olive-green eyes and her voice had a clear edge to it when she semi-spat, “I thought we already did that? Or have you deluded yourself into thinking that it didn’t happen?”

The moment of awkward silence that followed her question gave her a brief chance to take stock. _It seems that no matter how much I might miss him as a friend, there’s no way I can just ignore what happened that night in the nightclub… or when we broke up._ She sighed internally, knowing that she really did want to forgive him, but that the only route to that would be via a very long and narrow road. One that typically had pitfall traps and tripwires littered around every tight twist and turn.

However, much to her surprise, Ron then lowered his head. “No, it happened and I was a complete and utter jerk. Just seeing you that night dug up all the anger I’d felt when we broke up and in the weeks that followed.” He then raised his gaze and met her olive-greens with those light browns and she could see the sincerity in them when he said, “I’m sorry for what I said that night, Kim. It was cruel and uncalled for and…” he paused as his gaze found his shoes once more, “…and I said it because I wanted to hurt you. I was just so angry with you…” another pause, “…anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I’m sorry.”

How much time passed, with the pair of them stood in silence in her doorway, Kim did not know. She simply looked at her former best friend; completely stunned. While he may only have been apologising for his part in the nightclub fiasco, it was something that she would not have imagined possible. _Well, you got your apology for that incident and you didn’t even need to force it out of him. Now what?_ It was at that moment she realised that this was it. If there was going to be any possibility that some part of their friendship could ever be salvaged, it started here or never. _Ron was brave enough to face up to one of his mistakes, I have to do the same._

In front of her, Ron had turned to walk towards the elevator. Kim hesitated for a brief moment, as her brain reminded herself of all the bad blood that still existed between them and how trap-laden the long road would be. _It would be less painful just to let him walk away…_ the thought slithered into her mind and while unquestionably true, she quickly overrode it. _No, this is something I’ve got to do._

“Ron, wait,” Kim called out, her voice betraying no hint of how shot her nerves felt that this was even happening.

Her former best friend hesitated a moment before he turned around to look at her. His expression sullen, somewhat downtrodden. “Yeah?” he asked with clear trepidation. A not unwise thing to do, given that their last conversation had ended with her slapping him.

“Would you like to come in for a coffee? You look absolutely freezing.” Internally, Kim let out a small breath. That had been a lot harder than she would care to admit. Although, in comparison with what she had done over the past two days, perhaps not that difficult. A mirthless laugh floated through her mind. _I think I’m going to need that vacation after all this is over. Why couldn’t I just have suffered through a series of gruelling missions, ended up badly injured and whacked out on painkillers instead?_

Ron studied her for a moment, before replying, “sure, why not.” She recognised the tone as being his, ‘try to act casual when I’m actually terrified’, one.

Kim stepped back to allow him to enter her apartment, which he did, albeit hesitantly. “Here, let me take your jacket,” she said and held out a hand. Ron stripped off his soaking jacket, water dripping all over the wooden floor. She took it from him and hung it on the coat stand. “Have a seat and I’ll go make us some coffee.”

She had only taken a few steps towards the kitchen when she heard her former best friend say, in a voice that started almost as a whisper but then quickly rose to become a yell, “holy cow, this place is incredible!”

Kim shook her head and couldn’t help but smile to herself, _classic Ron._ She’d almost made it to the kitchen when he spoke again.

“Rufus, look at the size of that TV…. Wait a second…” Ron’s voice then instantly transitioned into a yell, “RUFUS, WHY ARE YOU ALREADY ON KIM’S SOFA, EATING A TOASTER TART?”

Kim froze on hearing her old friend’s words. _Oh, crap!_ She had completely forgotten about Ru-Ru. Spinning around, she saw Ron staring incredulously at the sofa, as the confused face of Rufus appeared from inside the pocket of his cargo pants. “Um, Ron… I think there’s something you need to know,” she said as she quickly crossed over to the sofa. The naked-mole-shark was sat; holding what looked like a fresh toaster tart, with a smile on his mischievous face and waving one paw. “That’s not Rufus.”

“Of course you’re going to say that, Kim,” Ron began and she knew he was about to spout one of his crazy theories that only ever made sense inside his head. “You’re probably about to claim that this is some sort of weird, twisted clone, created by some mad geneticist and all to try and hide the fact that the two of you have been hanging out behind my back… Probably for eighteen months!”

Kim didn’t even get the chance to say that, for once, his theory got some of the facts right, before Ron continued, “well, I’ve got one question for you, Miss Possible. If that’s some weird, twisted clone, where’s the real Rufus?”

She watched as the real Rufus looked up at Ron and said, “present,” before his small black eyes turned to the sofa and he exclaimed, “yikes!”

Her former best friend’s eyes travelled down to his pocket and his jaw fell open. “Th…th…there’s t…t…two Rufus’!”

“Yeah, about that,” Kim began, not quite sure how to go about explaining the existence of Ru-Ru. _You know your day is weird when one of Ron’s crazy theories sounds more plausible than the truth._ “This is Ru-Ru.”

As though this had been rehearsed, Ru-Ru scarfed down the last of his toaster tart and stood up; his pink belly bulging slightly. He gave Ron a sweet smile that looked a little too innocent for Kim’s liking.

Her former best friend simply stared at the naked-mole-shark, as Rufus scampered out of his pocket and up onto the sofa. “He… He… He’s a…”

“A naked-mole-shark,” Kim finished for him, like this was something one would find in any apartment. “He’s one of DNAmy’s genetically spliced Cuddle Buddies. I think she used some Rufus DNA to make a clone and then merged it with a shark of some variety.”

Ru-Ru stood as Rufus circled him, the latter taking in the shark fin on the formers back and the small gills at the side of his neck. However, when the naked-mole-rat reached the front again and stared at his shark-spliced clone’s face, Ru-Ru suddenly yelled, “BAWWW!!!”

“YIKES!!” Rufus squeaked and practically leapt off of the sofa and back into his owner’s trouser pocket.

Ru-Ru began rolling around on the sofa in a fit of evil laughter.

Either the yell or the sight of the naked-mole-shark’s razor-sharp teeth had caused Ron to take a step away from the sofa. “Kim,” he began, his voice level, however, it quickly increased in pitch as he finished, “that thing’s feral **and** evil!” He then knelt to ensure Rufus had recovered from the shock.

Kim stood with her hands on her hips as a stern expression covered her face. “Ru-Ru,” she said in a no-nonsense voice.”

The naked-mole-shark stopped laughing, looked up at her and squeaked, “uh-oh.”

Now that she had his attention, Kim was not actually sure how to chastise him. Given that the first hit she’d ever had on her ‘babysitting’ website had inadvertently kick-started her hero career, she never had gotten around to properly developing a way to handle naughty children. In fact, babysitting the Tweebs was virtually all she’d done in that department and that was like looking after a pair of wild monkeys… monkeys that liked to build rockets and portable silicon phase disruptors. She laughed internally, _guess Tweeb-sitting isn’t that much different._ She stared the naked-mole-shark straight in his beady black eyes. “You are in so much trouble!”

Ru-Ru gulped, perhaps realizing that his moment of fun might not have been worth it.

Kim turned to Ron. “He’s not feral, however, I’ll admit, he does have an evil streak about him.” She then glared at the naked-mole-shark. “He’s only been here since Saturday night and he’s already bitten me twice, attacked my shopping and stolen one of my toaster tarts.”

Ron straightened up, having coaxed Rufus back out of his pocket and onto his shoulder. “Ok, I’m calm,” he said, probably more for his benefit. “Now, do you mind explaining where he,” he jabbed a finger in the direction of Ru-Ru, “came from and how you ended up with him.”

“It’s a long story,” she replied. “Have a seat and I’ll make some coffee.” She then turned to Ru-Ru, “you behave or it’s back to mommy in a cardboard box for you, literally.”

Kim left Ron to make himself comfortable as she finally made it to the kitchen. _Ok, so this is not how I imagined any first conversation with him might go if we ever managed to sit down and talk._ However, like when she had first opened the door, there had again been echoes of their younger selves. The entire exchange having felt so familiar, like if she were to find and wear a set of her original mission gear. And it gave her hope that maybe, just maybe, she and Ron might be able to salvage something of their old friendship from the ashes of their failed relationship. She brewed a pot of coffee and poured two mugs; still knowing how her former best friend liked his. All the while, her brain trying to process the completely bizarre situation that she found herself in and how exactly she planned to explain how she had ended up with Ru-Ru. By the time she was setting both mugs and a packet of Oreo’s on the coffee table; her mug from earlier still somewhere on the floor, she’d decided to keep things simple. She sat down on the sofa beside the naked-mole-shark; Ron having taken up residence in the armchair.

“Ok, so he doesn’t belong to me and everything I know is simply what he told me on Saturday night,” Kim began. She watched as both Rufus and Ru-Ru’s gazes zeroed in on the packet of Oreo’s; both oblivious to the other's intentions. Simultaneously, the two naked-mole-creatures leapt onto the coffee table and bounded towards the cookies. Deftly, she reached over and plucked the packet off the table and the two creatures collided with one another at a ninety-degree angle.

On impact, she cringed, as did Ron. She then watched Rufus and Ru-Ru stagger about for a few moments before they managed to shake off the effects of the impact. The former shook his head, looked up at her and uttered, “awww,” in a disappointed manner. The latter was a lot less dignified as he began madly hopping up and down, before shooting her a glare as he shook his little paw and uttered a string of unintelligible curses.

Kim looked between them, “you get one each,” she said firmly, as she withdrew two Oreos from the packet and handed one to each of them. Her stern gaze then fell on Ru-Ru, “and you can count yourself lucky you’re getting one at all.”

Rufus smiled at her as he took his cookie and scuttled off. Ru-Ru, on the other hand, snatched his from her grasp and stalked back to his perch on the sofa, still muttering grumpily to himself.

Her gaze returned to Ron, who had simply stared at the whole exchange. “As I was saying,” she began, her tone almost daring another interruption from either naked-mole-rat or shark, “Ru-Ru arrived here on Saturday night, in the belt pouch of my battle suit. He stowed away inside it while Shego and Drakken were being arrested by Global Justice.”

“Wait a minute, back up a second,” Ron said, sounding somewhat confused. “What do Shego and Drakken have to do with this? You said he was one of DNAmy’s creations.”

“He is. However, he was in Drakken’s lair at Mount St Helens,” Kim continued. “According to Ru-Ru, as Amy’s latest creation, he got all her attention but soon realised that he would one day just end up as part of her collection. He didn’t like that idea, so while at some sort of boardgame day Drakken was having with some of the other villains…”

“Whoa, slow down!” Ron exclaimed. “Drakken has boardgame days with some of the other villains! What part of that sounds remotely plausible to you, Kim? They’re **villains**. They spend all their time holed up inside their lairs, planning their evil schemes and only come out when it’s time to take over the world, or whatever else they might be up to.”

While it sounded so uninformed, Kim knew that she had believed the exact same thing prior to her social interactions with Shego. “Yeah, about that, it turns out that supervillains are a lot more like normal people than you’d think. They hate working weekends, have friends and social lives.”

“What and I suppose they sometimes just wander into bars to have a drink?” Ron replied, not sounding at all convinced. “Can you imagine what would happen if Shego walked into a bar? Panic, Kim. The people would panic.”

It had always amazed Kim how sometimes, without even realising it, Ron came up with completely the wrong answer, but still managed to include some scarily relevant point in his working. However, despite this, she decided not to enlighten him about her social encounters with Shego and the fact that, aside from when her rival had deliberately caused trouble, no one had batted an eyelid at her presence. Given that she did not know how she currently felt about the green-skinned woman, the time they had spent together or the volcano make-out session, she had no desire to share anything like that with anyone and especially not with Ron. This was the first time they had spoken without an argument in over eighteen months and even that wasn’t assured yet. _And knowing Ron, telling him that I socialised with Shego will probably cause him to spontaneously combust… I don’t even want to imagine how he’d react if he found out that I willingly kissed her **and** liked it._

“Just trust me that the whole villain’s socialising together is true,” Kim finally said, hoping that Ron would just accept that fact and let her move on.

Her former best friend let out an exaggerated sigh and picked up his coffee mug. “Just when you think you’ve got a handle on these weird supervillain types they go and get even weirder.”

As Ron sipped his beverage, Kim used it as an opportunity to move on. “Anyway, Amy took Ru-Ru along to Drakken’s board game day, where he met Shego. Apparently, he liked her nature far more than Amy’s and so stowed away with her. And for some reason, possibly because he likes to terrorize Drakken, she let him stay with her.”

“Woah, woah, woah, time out, KP!” Ron exclaimed, almost spilling his coffee. “You’re telling me that a clone of Rufus, that was genetically spliced with a shark, lives with Shego of all people!”

She watched as Ron stared down at Ru-Ru, who gave him a wide grin, nodded his head emphatically and uttered, “uh-hu, uh-hu.”

After a moment or two, in which it seemed he was pondering the notion, Ron then said, “yeah, ok, I can see that.” It seemed he was taking this more readily than she had. “His evil and her evil probably align quite nicely. And she does like laughing at Drakken’s expense.”

Kim opened her mouth to say that Shego was not evil but quickly closed it again. _Probably best if I don’t tell him my thoughts on that, as it’ll just lead to questions that I’m already trying to avoid answering._ Instead, she chose to finish the story, “that aside, he was in Drakken’s lair when it started to blow up on Saturday and Shego risked her life to save him. However, they got separated when she got blasted down the side of the volcano, at which point she was arrested by GJ. As a result, I became his only viable escape route.” When she finished, she saw that Ron had started stuffing his face with Oreo’s. _Some things never change._ “Anyway, for the moment, I’m stuck with him until Shego next gets out of jail and I can return him.”

“Sheems toh meah, youh’ve goht youh’re workh cuht ouht forh youh.”

Kim translated Ron’s cookie impaired speech to mean that she had her work cut out for her. She glanced down at Ru-Ru and said somewhat forlornly, “I guess so,” but knew her tone had little to do with the creature and everything to do with the fact Shego was in jail. “So…” she then ventured tentatively and unsure of how exactly to proceed, now that they’d dealt with the naked-mole-shark in the room, she led with the obvious, “how have you been?”

Ron fixed her with what she suspected may have been a fake smile. “Me and Rufus are great. Just two bro’s kicking back, taking it easy for a bit, you know.”

Kim did know and couldn’t help have the thought, _so, just like you were when we broke up and one of the reasons why I left._ However, while she still felt a good deal of resentment towards him because of such actions, she chose not to voice it. _If I make any commentary that starts digging up our breakup, we’ll just end up fighting again. And if we devolve into an argument today, it’ll probably be the permanent end to our friendship._ With that in mind, she simply replied, “I’m glad you’re doing well.”

“Yeah, it’s cool,” Ron said and took a drink of his coffee. An attempt to prevent his face from betraying his words to be a lie? She couldn’t tell. “So, how about you? I saw you on at least one front page almost every day last week. Business as usual in Kim Possible world?”

While it may have been a coincidence, on hearing the phrase, ‘Kim Possible world’, her grip tightened around the handle of her mug and she forced herself to take a drink in order to mask her displeasure. Monique had used that exact same phrase, much to her chagrin, and, now that she thought about it, there was no way Ron had found out where she lived on his own. _He’s been in touch with at least one of mom, Monique or Wade. And if his use of that particular phrase isn’t just coincidence, he’s done more than simply ask for my address._ While the theory had only just come to her, Kim was already starting to smell her mother’s hand. _Did mom put him up to this? Perhaps something to keep in mind._

She then ran into the issue of what to say. So much had happened to her since that first night with Shego and she’d been unable to talk about it with anyone. And prior to their breakup, Ron would have been her first port of call. For a brief moment, part of her considered spilling her guts and telling him everything. About her social encounters with Shego, her fights with her mom and Monique, all her anger in regards to her internalised homophobia, how she’d then taken that out on everyone she’d come into contact with and then her kiss(es) with Shego. All in the name of explaining her eventual discovery about being a lesbian and so she could apologise for the part it, unbeknownst to her at the time, had played in the eventual failure of their relationship. Except she couldn’t. While she desperately wanted to clear that chunk of red from her ledger, there were two insurmountable roadblocks in her path. Her fear of how he would react, made worse by the memory of what happened after she told him about her kiss with Lisa all those years ago, and the swathes of bad blood that still tainted their relationship. She could not trust Ron the way she once had. In the end, she did the exact same thing she suspected he had done; lied. “Never better. Lots of cool missions to do, interesting places to visit and supervillain butts to kick.” _Well, that’s a great start to the dialogue between us; we’ve both lied._

“Sounds like you’re having a blast,” Ron replied. His eyes then glanced around the room, lingering on her TV and what she assumed was her Bang and Olufsen CD player. “Looks like you’re having one too. I’d kill for a TV that big, but dad says it’s not in the next three years financial budget, at least.”

 _So, he’s back living with his parents._ While she had not known, nor cared for that matter, what had happened to Ron after she had left him, she’d suspected that sooner or later, he would have either dropped out or been kicked out of college and ended up back with his parents. “So, how did you find me? I don’t exactly keep my address accessible to the public, for obvious reasons.” Kim kept her eyes locked onto her old friend as she asked the question, looking for any sign that his reply was either a lie or not the whole story.

“Hey, I still have a line to the guru too,” Ron said and quickly shoved an Oreo into his mouth.

His actions told her more than his words. While she did not doubt that he could still get in touch with Wade, they were friends after all, his ‘make your own assumptions’ sort of answer undoubtedly said he wanted her to do just that. However, it was the manner in which he had just filled his mouth that informed her that he was trying to buy himself some time, should she choose to press him on the matter. So, naturally, she pushed, “you mean you asked Wade where to find me?”

Ron chewed for what Kim could tell was far longer than necessary. _He’s stalling because he has something to hide. This no longer smells like mom’s hand, it reeks of it._ She then recalled the thought she’d had on route to answering the door, the one about Wade having possibly alerted her mom to the fact that she was home. _Did I deduce the action, but get the individual wrong, or did Ron just so happen to ride over here in the pouring rain on the off chance I might be home? After all, it is Monday. He would have known that I’d likely be out on a mission._ Before Ron finally swallowed and answered her question, the pieces had already started to slot into place inside Kim’s head and she disliked the picture they made. However, unlike last week, she was not about to immediately crucify everyone involved. And regardless of any manipulation that might be going on behind the scenes, she’d admitted to herself yesterday that she did miss Ron and so she could not pass up the opportunity to start turning the earth, in the hopes that it may one day allow their friendship to flourish anew.

“Wade knows all, Kim. Who else would I consult when I seeketh wisdom?”

 _Who else indeed? Wade might be the tech guru, but mom would definitely consider herself the Kim Possible guru._ At that thought, she heard her mother’s voice say softly in her ear, _“I know my daughter, Kimmie.” And if she was desperate enough, she might have considered trying to get us to reconnect a worthwhile gamble._ Kim let out an audible sigh, knowing that she needed some answers. “Why did you come here, Ron? Even if you felt guilty about what happened at the nightclub, the arguments between us are far bigger than that one incident. Who or what convinced you to come?”

Ron stared into his coffee mug. “Don’t laugh, but it was Mr Barkin.”

Of all the answers that she might have expected to hear, the name of their old school teacher and someone with whom her former best friend had years’ worth of grumblings and complaints, would not have made her list. As a result, Kim couldn’t help but laugh. “Seriously, Mr Barkin?” she asked, not sure whether or not she believed him.

“Hey, I said don’t laugh!” Ron exclaimed, however, this only caused her to laugh harder. When she eventually stopped, he continued, “he was working as a bouncer at that nightclub, saw there was a commotion and automatically fingered me as the one responsible.”

“Ok…” Kim began, not surprised to learn that their old teacher had yet another job or had immediately assumed Ron had been the cause of the incident, “…what happened?”

“He dragged me out back, sat me down, did the whole teacher thing and somehow got me to spill my guts about everything that had happened between us,” Ron replied. “I missed my Friday night Bueno Nacho because of him.”

She sighed, _something else that hasn’t changed._ “Ron, can you keep to the point. What did Mr Barkin say that was so convincing?”

“He told me that there are two sides to every coin and that I should try and see yours… or something like that. And then he said that I should call you.”

Kim suspected that Mr Barkin had made the metaphor and, like always, had to explain it, much to his bemusement.

“Anyway,” Ron continued, “I was already feeling bad about what I said to you that night and Barkin got me thinking. I did a lot of soul searching, which involved a lot of late nights at Bueno Nacho and drinking an entire cup of Diablo sauce in order to bring about an epiphany…”

“What!” Kim asked incredulity. She then shook her head, as an image of Ron rolling around the floor of Bueno Nacho, in a Diablo sauce induced fever, filled her mind.

A glance at Rufus, who shook his head and mouthed, “ut-uh, ut-uh!” convinced her that she did not want to know the details of that story.

“On second thoughts, let’s just skip over that part.”

“After a couple of weeks, I eventually decided that Barkin was right,” Ron rolled his eyes, “urgh, admitting that sounds so wrong.” He shook his head, perhaps trying to rid himself of the memory, before continuing, “and so I tried calling you, but found out that a) my cell phone number is still blocked on yours and b) you never answer your cell phone anyway.”

“Yeah,” Kim said with the slightest hint of a cringe, “I sometimes leave it at home when I go off on a Mission or…” she trailed off as she recalled the fact that she’d purposefully allowed it to die during her incarceration within the Possible residence and not bothered to charge it up. In fact, it was probably still in the bag she had brought home with her last Monday; definitely dead. “…I tend to use the Kimmunicator exclusively these days. No sense having two devices that can do the same job, right?” _That and I can set the Kimmunicator so that calls, messages and emails don’t even appear if I don’t want them to._

“So, when I realised that I wasn’t likely going to get you to answer the phone to me, I went back to the drawing board, spent more nights at Bueno Nacho and finally decided to talk to you face to face.” Ron looked her in the eyes and she could once more see the sincerity in his gaze. “I think we need to clear the air, Kim. I’m not sure if we can be friends again, but I think we could both use some closure on what happened between us.”

For a moment, Kim simply stared into her former best friend’s brown eyes, unsure of how to respond. Truth be told, she felt the same cocktail of emotions from when she had first seen him throughout the entire encounter thus far. And while she had kept a lid on her metaphorical keg of gunpowder, she knew that at any point, the wrong words would have caused it to explode. Indeed, the ‘Kim Possible world' comment had almost done so and that hadn't even been about their relationship. Despite the fact she might have wanted to salvage something of their friendship, she was still too volatile for this. Everything else that she was trying to process had pushed her too close to the edge and adding this on top might just tip her over; ruining things between her and Ron permanently and reverting her back to the angry Kim of last few weeks. _I can't go back to being that angry. Not after the messes I left in my wake._

“Ron, I…” she began as the seconds ticked by and the silence between them started to become awkward. However, she stopped before she managed to say anything else. _He’s gone to all this effort. How do I explain that I want us to be friend’s again, but for that to happen, I can’t deal with this right now?_ She wracked her brain, desperately searching for a way to say it, that would not sound like she was shoving his olive branch back in his face, but came up with nothing. “Ron, I think you’re right,” she eventually continued, hoping that agreeing with him in the first instance might help sell her hesitation. “We do need to clear the air and I think closure would help both of us move on.” She sighed and the truth spilt out of her, “I miss your friendship and if possible, I’d like for us to find some way to be friends again. But…” she saw his face start to fall at her use of the word and she recalled a saying about everything that is said before the word but being a load of bullshit. _Is that how he feels right now?_ She had no time to ponder the matter as every second she wasted would drive them further apart. “I have a lot of issues that I need to deal with at the moment and I know if we start digging up old ground right now, I won’t be able to handle it and it will ruin any chance we might have of salvaging our friendship.”

Kim gazed into Ron’s eyes, her olive-greens imploring him to believe her on this one thing. “I need time, Ron. So, please, if you have any desire for something other than just finding some closure, give me some time to deal with my issues. Then we can talk about everything that happened between us.” _And maybe then I'll be able to tell you the truth... tell you that I'm actually a lesbian._ That was still a difficult thought for her to have, let alone say out loud to someone.

For a moment, Ron looked more than a little dejected, like it had taken all his courage to come this far and he was not sure if he could do it again. When he averted his gaze, Kim feared the worst. Only for him to say, “I understand. I think that’s one of the problems we had; we stopped putting in the effort to understand where each of us was at.”

Ron’s words practically proved her suspicion to be true, as she felt a flash of anger and an immediate urge to go on the defensive and say that it was he who had failed to understand her and that she had understood him perfectly well. Fortunately, she saw the danger signs and managed to suppress the thought.

Ron then continued, “if you need time, I understand completely and you should take as long as you need. I’ll wait for you to get in touch.”

“Thanks,” Kim said softly, feeling both elated, relieved and glad that someone had finally accepted how she felt, all at the same time. It almost brought tears to her eyes, but she forced them back.

“I’d better go,” Ron then said and stood up.

She watched as he held open the pocket on the leg of his trousers for Rufus to jump into. The naked-mole-rat quickly complied. And she gave no objection to his desire to leave, now that they had come to some sort of understanding. “Let me see you out,” she replied and got to her own feet.

Ron said nothing as she escorted him to the door and handed him his still damp raincoat. She opened the door and her former best friend walked through it. “I’m glad you came to see me and that we talked,” Kim then said.

“Yeah, me to,” Ron agreed, although she could still detect a hint of dejection about his tone and figured that he’d hoped they could have opened a proper dialogue about their relationship, rather than her simply promising that they would at some unknown point in the future. He crossed the narrow hallway and pushed the button for the elevator.

“I’ll give you a call when I’m ready,” Kim said, by way of a parting remark.

“I’ll be waiting,” Ron replied, just as the elevator doors opened. He stepped inside. From his pocket, she saw Rufus poke his head out, smile and give her a small wave.

Just before the doors closed, she quickly added, “it was nice seeing you again.”

“Yeah, likewise,” he replied.

When the doors closed and both Ron and Rufus were gone from her sight, Kim closed the apartment door, pressed her back against it and slid to the floor. _That was…_ she didn’t know how to finish that thought, as too many descriptors came to mind, ranging from difficult to weird. She didn’t really know how she felt at that moment or about what had just happened in general. However, like after her conversation with Wade, she felt the looming mass of problems that threatened to overwhelm her mind shrink ever so slightly. If nothing else, she now had a clearer understanding of where she stood with Ron and at least that was something. Remaining on the floor, for now, Kim closed her eyes and focused on taking calming breaths. Even though the looming mass had lost a little weight, it had been from problems on the periphery of her thought processes. She still had the major issues to deal with. And she had a bad feeling that they would not be so easy on her.


	48. S206 (U2): I get up, I get down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so chapter two of four. This time we’re visiting another prog-rock epic for the title. I get up, I get down, is the name of the third movement of the Yes track Close to the Edge, from the album of the same name. It is also a lyric that is used multiple times throughout the track. In this instance, it is a reference to Shego’s state of being. Anyway, enough from me, enjoy.

Wake up, roll call, shower, breakfast, do nothing. Lunch, more nothing, dinner, even more nothing, lights out. Rinse and repeat. That was how Shego’s days passed while incarcerated within the country’s highest security prison. Ok, so the nothing part was subjective. She spent time with her cellmate; Bonnie, playing checkers, cards, sitting on the bleachers and generally keeping the girl out of trouble. However, by day three of their association, the former cheerleader seemed to have learned her lessons. Regardless, it was downright boring, but the worst part of it was, Shego didn’t mind.

It was now Thursday; day five of her incarceration and the green-skinned woman was still very much bereft of personality. The previous day, Bonnie had figured out that her state was not due to dodgy painkillers, but just assumed that she had been given some sort of antipsychotic to keep her docile. Although, while it had not stopped the girl complaining about how boring she was, Shego hadn’t been bothered about that either. She’d listened to Bonnie complain about that, the food, the beds and numerous other things, yet been neither up nor down about it. Had she been her normal self, she would have a) wondered how on earth Junior put up with her and b) threatened green plasma-induced grievous bodily harm against her if she did not shut up.

Shego sat at a round table in the recreation room with Bonnie, Dr Drakken, Professor Dementor and Frugal Lucre accompanying her. This was the first day that Drakken had approached her since they had been arrested; inviting her and Bonnie to join him and the other two villains for a game of Clue. Again, this was another instance where she would quickly have deduced the truth of the matter; that Lucre and Dementor had already started driving Drakken crazy and so he was prepared to forgive her for ruining his last plan, just so he could get some semblance of normality back. Only, in her current state, normality was not at the table.

At the start of the game, Bonnie, who it transpired also knew of the rule that Miss Scarlet went first, had snatched the respective token before anyone else could get a look in; Drakken had not been amused. Shego had ended up as Reverend Green because she was… well, green. Drakken, Miss Peacock for the same chromatic reason. Dementor got to be Professor Plum, as he’d legitimately earned the right to the title. Leaving Frugal Lucre with a choice between Mrs White and Colonel Mustard. He’d chosen the latter, due to Smarty Mart selling the condiment at an unbeatable price.

The game had largely passed Shego by. Sure, she’d rolled the die, moved her token and made suggestions when required, but there had been no strategy to her play. She might as well have been playing Snakes and Ladders, given the linear fashion in which she moved around the board. The others had conversed and she’d answered questions when asked, but she’d contributed little else. Yes, it had been just another day of comfortably numb monotony. That was until Dr Drakken made the following comment, “this version of the game lacks character. Where’s the charming, but cunning Dr Lipsky? The death-ray? The active volcano!”

“Like, what on earth are you babbling about?” Bonnie asked. The girl had taken Shego’s advice and refrained from referring to Drakken by something derogatory.

“We created a more interesting version of the game, dear Fraulein,” Professor Dementor replied in his thick German accent.

“Replacing the boring normal characters, murder implements and rooms with some far more villainous ones,” Drakken added gleefully and rubbed his hands together, like the creation of an alternate version of Clue was part of a new take over the world scheme.

Bonnie gave the two mad scientists a sideways look, “seriously?”

Drakken clearly did not realise that the former cheerleader’s expression and words were laced with disdain, as he quickly replied, “of course! We’ve got Dr Lipsky, Professor, DeMenze, Lord Fiske…”

“Oh, you put yourselves in the game, sounds exciting,” Frugal Lucre cut in over-enthusiastically. “Who did I replace?”

Both Drakken and Dementor turned to look at the budget villain and burst out laughing, the latter managing to say, “this preisgünstiger Bösewicht (cut-price villain) is amusing, no, Drew?“

“What’s funny?” Lucre asked, slightly confused.

“Let’s just say that when we were picking which villains deserved a character, you didn’t make the cut,” Drakken answered.

“Like, oh my god!” Bonnie then said incredulously. “The two of you actually spent time making a villain version of Clue?”

“Well, it was us, Amy and Duff,” Drakken started to say, but was quickly cut off.

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be busy plotting world domination? I suppose you made the murder victim Kim Possible,” Bonnie finished, snatching the die from the board for her turn.

Just like that, there was a metaphorical explosion at the table.

Drakken did his age-old yell of, “KIM POSSIBLE!”

While Dementor barked, “do not mention zat infuriating fraulein’s name!”

“Oh, don’t get me started on her,” Lucre exclaimed.

Shego, who had been a spectator to the entire conversation thus far, felt a spark ignite inside her and for a brief moment, a light shone from behind her dull eyes, as the dual feelings of hate and lust coursed through her. “Screw, Kimmie,” she uttered, catching herself by surprise. At the exact same moment, the words filled her mind too, but with an entirely different connotation. The thought, _what the hell,_ had just managed to form when she felt the spark start to flicker, _no!_

“So, I take it you guys totally hate Kim too,” Bonnie then said.

This time, Lucre was the first to respond, “absolutely. Not only does she have no idea how to properly budget, but she knocked me on my backside last time we met.”

The other two supervillains looked at Frugal Lucre in disdain, before making their own statements of discontent about the woman in question.

“If I could just be rid of that annoying hero,” Drakken growled and shot an accusing look at Shego, which clearly said, _“you’re not doing your job.”_ He then continued, “I would be ruling the world right now, not stuck here in cellblock D.”

“I cannot express my dislike for zat fraulein! However, if we were rid of her, I would have her fancy battle suit and **I** would be ze one ruling ze world,” Professor Dementor countered. “She is my nemesis!”

“What are you talking about, DeMenze? Kim Possible is my nemesis, not yours,” Drakken retorted.

“Actually, she’s my nemesis too. Although the Brainy Buys chain does come a close second. Their prices are outrageous,” Frugal Lucre chimed in.

“Yeah, well, she was my nemesis since middle school,” Bonnie retorted, as if calling dibs due to the fact that she had been enemies with Kim Possible first.

Like it was kindling and oxygen, the continued talk about Kimmie gathered around the fading spark inside Shego and kept it alight. A barrage of memories from her recent encounters with the hero flashed through her mind, bringing with them a taste of the emotions associated with each. Eyes blazing emerald green, she slammed a fist onto the table, drawing the attention of the other four occupants. “I’ve told you all before,” she said slowly, ensuring that they understood each and every word, “Kimmie is mine!”

Like with her previous statement, there had been a dual meaning to this one too. On the one hand, she wanted to find the hero and beat her to a pulp and on the other, wrap her arms around her and taste those pretty pink lips once more. To both revel in victory as her rivals battered body lay strewn at her feet and drown in the desire to interlock their naked bodies and set the controls for nirvana. Only Shego could do neither of those things. Not while stuck in cellblock D. _I need to get out of here, but that’s going to take time._ She felt the spark begin to flicker again and so quickly said, “since we’re sharing, what’s the worst thing Kimmie has ever done to you?”

She did not care about the replies; they were of no consequence, however, it seemed that continued talk of her rival could feed the spark it had itself ignited inside her. _How ironic, the bitch who dumped me in this shithole is helping me get back on my feet._ Shego had to force herself to use the profanities, but doing so made her feel that little bit more like herself. _I guess my feelings towards Kimmie are so strong… so raw at the moment, that the GJ serum can’t keep them suppressed._

She turned back into the conversation in time to hear Frugal Lucre say, “one time, she hung me on a clothes peg by my shirt, while she foiled my scheme to sell Club Banana merchandise at there respective Smarty Mart prices.”

“Seriously, that’s the worst thing Kim has ever done to you?” Bonnie asked in disdain.

“Urgh, you have no idea how badly my armpits got chaffed by my polycotton shirt.”

The former cheerleader gave Lucre a derisive stare, “what kind of villain are you?”

“The budget-conscious kind,” the ex-Smarty Mart employee replied proudly. “Unlike these two,” he then pointed at Professor Dementor and Dr Drakken.

Shego turned to Bonnie, “what he means is, he hasn’t burned **millions** of dollars on overpriced lairs and superweapons.”

As expected, Dr Drakken took the bait and fired back, “all that money has been wisely invested in a long-term strategy to take over the world!”

For the first time in days, Shego actually managed a small laugh and replied with a hint of her normal sass, “yeah, and look how much of the world it’s got you; a single room in cellblock D, that you have to share with him,” she pointed at Frugal Lucre.

Drakken folded his arms across his chest and huffed under his breath, “I think I preferred you when you were a mindless zombie.”

“Prft, zat is nothing,” Professor Dementor exclaimed at Frugal Lucre, in what seemed like an attempt to return the conversation to Shego’s original point. “I once created a device to control ze fraulein’s battle suit, allowing me to successfully steal it from her. However, after I put it on and used it against her, she used my own device against me!”

“Well that sounds dumb,” Bonnie snorted.

“Wait a minute, you actually made a device to control her battle suit, but didn’t bother to destroy it before you put it on?” Shego said incredulously and let out another small laugh. “And I thought Drakken was the bigger idiot.”

“What!” Dr Drakken yelled. “Don’t you remember my plan to take over the world using Dr D’s Brain washing shampoo and cranium rinse? It even had the tagline, lather, rinse and Obey! How can you claim that’s not more idiotic?” Clearly, the mad scientist had not comprehended the fact that this was one pissing contest between himself and his rival that he did not want to win.

The entire table was on the cusp of laughter as Shego delivered the coup de grâce, “guess I was wrong, you are the bigger idiot.”

“Thank you, Shego…” Drakken started to say in a satisfied manner before pausing. “Wait a minute…”

Bonnie and the other two villains started to laugh.

“SHEGO! HOW DARE YOU BELITTLE ME IN FRONT OF OTHER VILLAINS!”

The laughter around the table intensified and a thin smile formed on Shego’s lips. Even though it had only been five days, she felt like she was slowly waking up from a one-hundred-year sleep. The green spark inside her had caught alight and now she could feel small embers starting to glow in the darkness of the hollow abyss that permeated her entire being. It wasn’t much, but it gave her something to cling to. Something that she could nurture until her fire once more burst to life in a sea of green flames. She might not know how long it would take, but she knew one thing for certain, she had never managed to rekindle her spark so soon after receiving the GJ serum, not since the very first time it had been administered to her. _I’m coming for you, Kimmie… I just don’t know what I’m going to do when I find you._

Talk about Kimmie ended there and the game of Clue quickly resumed as Bonnie finally rolled the die. While the conversation moved on to other, less rage-inducing topics, it had been enough to sustain Shego. Soon they were nearing the endgame, with Bonnie, Dementor and surprisingly, given what had happened the last time she had played this game with him, Drakken, all vying to beat the others to the murder room. The latter was just about to roll when the sound of someone shouting interrupted the mad scientist.

“Bitch!”

Shego heard the singular word and knew who had uttered it and at whom; herself. _Shit, Morgan._ She turned around in her chair and saw the mountain-like woman making a b-line straight for her. _This won’t be good. Although, on the plus side, it seems like she’s forgotten her original beef was with Bonnie._ She’d not seen the woman since their altercation; thus, she had surmised that she’d ended up in solitary confinement as a result. Now it seemed Morgan was out of the hole and with no qualms about going back there, so long as she got her vengeance first.

This was quickly confirmed by the woman herself, “I did four days in the hole cos of you,” as other inmates scarpered away from them.

Shego had just enough time to get to her feet before the woman reached her. “If you’re so desperate to go back, pick a fight elsewhere. As the only place you’ll be going if you tangle with me is the infirmary,” she said, her voice cold and steely. While Morgan stood a good foot taller than her, Shego did not care. She’d faced bigger, stronger, uglier and greener opponents than her. Warmonga ticking all four boxes by herself. Then there was Kimmie. Not overly tall and with a lithe frame, the girl’s appearance hardly screamed fighter. Yet the young hero had more skill and ability than anyone Shego had ever fought. Yeah, next to Princess, this hulking brute would be no problem, even if she was not at full strength and lacked her glow. 

Morgan laughed, “so, you’re going to fight this time, Bitch. Good. I like it when my victims struggle.”

Shego quickly cast her gaze upon the guards. There were three within her field of vision and while she did not doubt that they had heard Morgan’s initial yell and were well aware of what was about to transpire, none seemed interested in putting a stop to it. _They probably hate us both equally. So, they have no qualms about letting this play out and then cleaning up what’s left. It’ll give them an excuse to use force against us._ She didn’t relish being beaten by tonfa, however, Morgan was effectively challenging her status as toughest bitch in the place and so she could not back down or lose.

Without further warning, the mountain-like woman threw the first punch; a haymaker like before. Similar to Motor Ed, Morgan’s blows lacked technique and finesse but had a lot of power behind them. Thus, it was best to avoid getting hit and so she ducked. Before it had even properly begun, the altercation was over. Shego caught the woman in the gut with a fore-fist-punch and as she staggered backwards, followed up with a front-snap-kick. Morgan then crumpled to her knees; eyes wide with shock as she stared at Shego and completely dumbstruck. With a single finger, she prodded the woman in the forehead and sent her crashing backwards.

“Pathetic,” Shego said firmly, a look of contempt spreading across her face. “You could have at least given me a solid workout.” She cast her emerald gaze around the room. “Any of you other chumps want to come and have a go?”

Everyone in the room quickly turned their attention away from her and not because the guards were now closing in.

“Yeah, didn’t think so,” she snarled. _Well, that was easy, now for the hard part._

Before any of the guards had even uttered a command, Shego put her hands behind her head and lowered herself to her knees. It pained her to submit without a fight, but it was very much a case of picking her battles. While she could easily take out all the guards in the room and even make it out into the yard, without her glow, she’d have nowhere to go but straight to solitary confinement; probably for a very long time. She took a deep breath, in preparation of the first tonfa blow, but it never came. She watched as the guards all stopped in a ring around herself and Morgan, who was still groaning in pain on the floor. The sound of heavy boots behind her quickly brought about the thought, _oh shit!_ a mere second before she felt a harsh kick against her spine.

“Ahh!” Shego winced, pain shooting through her from the impact sight. She clattered face-first onto the floor. She was afforded no time to catch her breath before the boot came down atop her back; hard. “Son of a…”

Soon a sharp tutting sound reached her ears, followed by the domineering voice of Captain Brooks, “I might have known you’d end up in trouble sooner or later. You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

 _How did she get here so…_ before the thought finished forming, Shego had the answer. _Fuck it! This whole thing was set up! Brooks deliberately let Morgan out of the hole, knowing full well that she’d come for me. And I bet it’s because I’ve been a model inmate for five days; she’s desperate to punish me._ The pain in her back suddenly intensified as she felt the Captain increase the pressure on it.

“I asked you a question,” Brooks barked.

“No, Sir,” Shego gasped, finding it difficult to breathe. It wasn’t true, she could keep herself out of trouble, at least when the deck didn’t get stacked against her. However, saying anything to the contrary of the Captain’s viewpoint would only make the situation worse.

“And assaulting another inmate without provocation,” Captain Brooks let out an exaggerated sigh. “What am I to do with you?”

This time the question was rhetorical and so she kept her mouth shut.

After a moment or two of what Shego supposed was feigned contemplation, the Captain then said, “I suppose if you’re not going to play nice with your peers, I’ll have to lock you away by yourself and declaw you some more.”

 _Great, guess I’m getting a one-way ticket to the hole. However, what the fuck does she mean by ‘declaw’ me some more? She’s already suppressed my glow; what more does she think she can do?_ She then heard the sharp click of the Captain’s fingers and the guards quickly descended upon her. Handcuffs and leg irons quickly dug into her wrists and ankles respectively, after which she was hauled to her feet. She offered no resistance but was manhandled by the guards anyway as she was dragged out after the Captain.

It barely took any time at all for Shego to be marched through the prison and into the all too familiar solitary confinement block. At least once per stay, she ended up in here for a couple of days. Usually for an accumulation of demerits, most of which she earned because Drakken had annoyed her to the point that she’d hit him in order to get him to shut up. She was taken to the cell furthest from the security gate.

“Once I knew you would be joining us, I had this cell re-configured especially for you,” Captain Brooks said, satisfaction lacing her voice.

There was something about how smug the woman sounded that set Shego’s alarm bells ringing. _What the hell has she cooked up for me this time?_

“Normally, for those inmates who cause me the amount of trouble that you do, I’d leave them in the dark and have the temperature turned up. However, in your case, I’ve had to alter things slightly.” Captain Brooks opened the door to the small room, which contained a narrow cot, sink and toilet.

Shego was dragged forwards until she stood just outside. Her restraints were removed before she received a hard shove in her back and she staggered across the threshold. She turned around, just in time to see Captain Brooks smug sneer as the door was slammed shut and bolted. A split second later and the lights went out, leaving her in pitch blackness. Only then did she realise what the Captain had meant by ‘alter things slightly’; the air around her felt icy, like she’d just opened a freezer door. And she had a sinking feeling the temperature would only plummet. _Fuck!_

Taking a deep breath, which caught in her throat slightly and caused her to cough, Shego carefully turned around and stepped in the direction of the cot. Her foot quickly bumped against its solid base. Picking up the thin blanket, which she did not need to see to know it was grey, she pulled it around herself and sat down cross-legged. _Do your worst, Brooks, you won’t break me._ Unfortunately, while the thought held true for when at full strength and with her glow, she knew she was only lying to herself. Even without her glow, her body still hated the cold and it seemed Brooks had figured this out. As if on cue, she shivered and tried to huddle the blanket tighter around herself. In her mind, she pictured the green embers and tried to focus on them. She had to keep them alight. If the cold broke her spirit and snuffed them out, she’d be back to square one. She could only hope that her stint in the hole wasn’t long enough or the temperature did not drop low enough for that to happen. Her mind quickly found its way to the object of her obsession, in a hope that the dual feelings she felt towards her rival would help keep her embers glowing. _I’m going to get my hands on you, Kimmie… I just don’t know what they’ll do to you._


	49. S207 (U2): And in the end, it's only round and round, and round

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, two down, two to go. For this chapter, we’re returning to Pink Floyd (yeah, that obsession will never die) and to the song Us and Them, from their 1973 masterpiece The dark side of the moon. I think I’ve probably taken more chapter titles from this one album than any other. However, given that its concept is all about the people and the pressures of modern life, it seems somewhat appropriate. Anyway, the chapter title, And in the end, it’s only round and round, and round, is a lyric from Us and Them and describes perfectly the situation that Kim currently finds herself in. I hope you all enjoy.

After her impromptu encounter with Ron on Monday, Kim’s week had gone majorly downhill. By Tuesday morning, she had felt so suffocated having been stuck at home, that she’d called Wade and told him she’d take the job his colleague had put in a request for. After dangling the threat of going back to Amy over Ru-Ru’s head if he wrecked her apartment, she had left for what should have been a blue milk run. A simple task of ensuring cargo X got from point A to point B. What could possibly have gone wrong? Answer: everything. No less than three different villains had attempted to steal said cargo, the last of which had actually succeeded. While she had fended off villain number one with little trouble, villain two had been much better prepared. And while she had been dealing with him and his hired muscle, villain three had snuck in and swiped the cargo from behind both of their backs. He’d then escaped in a hovercraft and it had taken her four whole days to track him down, retrieve it and get it safely to point B.

Matters had not been helped by the constant need to fend off thoughts about her newfound sexual preferences and what it meant for her. It seemed that was one problem that had refused to be left back in Middleton. At the most inopportune moments, she’d found thoughts creeping into her mind about how she would go about finding a girl to ask out, how she would manage to ask said girl out, what having a relationship with another girl would be like, how things would work between them, including in the sexual department and what her family, friends and the world at large would think about her now being a lesbian. That last point had been the most difficult and contributed to the worst part of the mission; the stares of everyone she had encountered. Even though she knew it was all in her head, Kim could not help but feel that everyone who looked at her knew her secret and were judging her because of it. She’d felt so self-conscious that she’d struggled to hold a conversation with anyone during the initial phase of the mission (prior to the cargo being stolen) and almost been grateful to villain number three for stealing it, as it had allowed her to set out on her own to retrieve it. By mission’s end, she’d genuinely been relieved to go home and shut herself away in her apartment.

Kim sat huddled on her sofa, wearing a pair of blue pyjamas and her fluffy pink dressing gown. _What the hell am I going to do?_ She’d arrived home yesterday afternoon to find her apartment surprisingly still intact, bar a bit of a mess in the kitchen. After the cargo had been stolen and she’d realised it could take her days to retrieve it, she’d called home to ask Ru-Ru if he would be able to feed himself during her extended absence. She’d received an, _“uh-hu, uh-hu,”_ which had not filled her with confidence, but convinced her enough that she could leave him to his own devices and not return to find the apartment building reduced to a pile of smoking rubble. However, the naked-mole-shark had got creative when it came to opening the fridge and eaten most of the contents. Thus, she’d been forced to go out that morning to re-stock.

The stares of everyone she had passed in Middleton, largely because she’d known a lot of the individuals, had been far more intense than those of the strangers she’d encountered while out on her mission and made her skin crawl. _“They have no idea that you’re a lesbian,”_ Kim had told herself over and over inside her head, as she’d pushed her cart around Smarty Mart. Her palms had been uncontrollably sweaty and she’d pulled the hood of her hoodie up to try and avoid attention. Neither action had helped. With every gaze that landed on her, she’d imagined a disdainful sneer in place of a smile and heard something like, _“get away from me, Freak,”_ or, _“eww, stop checking me out, Lezzie,”_ in place of hello. If that wasn’t bad enough, fate had decided to shit on her by having her mom appear. Fortunately, she’d seen the woman first and so been able to bolt down a different aisle and make a hasty dash to the checkout, having only got two-thirds of her list.

 _“You’re supposed to be the girl who can do anything, so deal with it already,”_ a voice said inside her head.

Kim had unwillingly become accustomed to debating her problems with herself of late. For someone normally so sure of herself, having her mind torn in two to the point that she was almost constantly arguing with another version of herself felt exceptionally disconcerting. Worse yet, her brain had even anthropomorphized the voice. Casting it in the image of her younger self, with blue Club Banana capris and green vest as standard and without the physical and mental battle scars she’d suffered in the years since. In short, the Kim that really could do anything. And to cap it all off, as though she was mocking herself, she or it, she didn’t know which, had started using the name Kimmie.

 _How do I just deal with this?_ Kim asked irritably. She’d been over this multiple times and gotten nowhere. _I only just discovered I’m a lesbian last week and have no clue where to even begin._

 _“Simple,”_ Kimmie replied smoothly. _“It’s Sunday. Dress up in something nice, go out, find a cute girl and ask if you can buy her a drink. So not the drama.”_

Kim shook her head, _it so **is** the drama. What part of that is simple other than the fact it’s Sunday? First, I don’t know how to dress to catch the eye of other girls. Second, I don’t know where to even look for other lesbians or how I would even recognise them. And third, I have no idea what sort of girls I even like. If you’ve forgotten, I spent all of high school trying to figure out what sort of boys I liked… and even then, I never figured it out._

 _“Geeze, calm down, Girl,”_ Kimmie said. _“First, you know how to dress nice, so no issue. Second, there are a lot of good bars here in Middleton or you can go further afield if you want. And third, that’s what you’d be going out to do; find out what sort of girls you like.”_

 _See, you don’t even know,_ Kim fired back. _You’re just spouting half-answers that don’t tackle the actual problems._

That comment was enough to end the argument, for now at least. For she had once more hit the nail right on the head. While her mind might be torn between the girl who could do anything and wanted to dive straight in without fear, and the girl who understood the gravity of the situation and had genuine concerns about what would happen if she tried, the reality was, neither knew where to begin. And in the end, no matter how many times the arguments swirled round and round inside her head, she always came back to the same point. _I need someone to talk to about all of this… someone who knows what they are talking about… someone who is actually a lesbian._

Kim cast her gaze to the opposite end of the sofa, where Ru-Ru sat with a packet of dry-roasted peanuts; watching an old James Bond film, she didn’t know which. While his naked-mole-rat lineage naturally reminded her of Ron, his shark side definitely reminded her of Shego. It felt like she had a living hybrid of both her former best friend and her rival sitting beside her. It was the latter half, the sneaky, dangerous, keep her on her toes part that drew her attention. _Shego…_ It had been just over a week since she had inadvertently sent the green-skinned-woman to jail and her suspicions from Monday had already proven to be true. She missed her. While it had been a long time since she had duked it out with her rival every week, just knowing that she was out there, that she could run into the woman on any given mission, had added that extra spice to her life.

As though he knew she was thinking about his owner, mistress, roommate, friend, or whatever he and Shego were to one another, Ru-Ru stood up and wandered over to her. He looked up at her with his beady black eyes; always so full of mischief and uttered, “Shego?”

Kim sighed, “yep, Ru-Ru, you got it in one… Shego.”

She did not know why she had told him the truth. Was she that desperate to talk to someone, or in his case, something, about any part of her current pulsating black mass of problems? The answer to that she already knew happened to be yes. Earlier in the week, she’d done as Wade had asked and given serious thought to calling her mom. She’d almost been ready to forgive the woman for incarcerating her within the Possible residence, just so she could have someone to talk to. Only a combination of residual anger and fear had stayed her finger from calling her on the Kimmunicator. She’d almost called Monique too, but recalled the argument they’d had last time they had spoken and the subsequent shit her ex-best girl had flung at her while she had been breathless and unable to respond. Unlike her mom, who she knew would be grateful that she had decided to call her, Mo had made it clear that she had no intention of entertaining her without a full-blown apology first. And Kim still did not see what she had to apologise for. That ultimately left her with the naked-mole-shark option.

“Miss her?” Ru-Ru asked.

Kim assumed it was a question, given that the naked-mole-shark had admitted to her on Monday that he himself missed Shego. “Yeah,” she answered with a small nod. “Life always was that little bit less interesting when she was in jail. Either I’d forgotten how much, given that it’s been over two and a half years since she was last arrested, or all the high school drama I had going on back then lessened the effect.”

“Uh-hu, boring,” the naked-mole-shark agreed. He then bounded back across the sofa and returned with his bag of peanuts. “Nut?” he offered and held out the bag to her.

She smiled faintly and dipped her fingers into the bag to pluck out a couple of nuts. She didn’t really want them, but didn’t want to bum Ru-Ru out when he was trying to be nice either. “Even though Wade admitted calling Global Justice to the scene before I’d even got there, I still feel guilty about what happened to her,” Kim then said, before eating her handful of nuts. The memory of watching the GJ agents manhandle Shego into the chopper, floated through her mind as she chewed. “They treated her like an animal and I just stood by and watched…” She then offhandedly uttered in a distant voice, “all it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing,” recalling the words of Winston Churchill from her history books. While she would certainly not class GJ as evil, it still seemed fitting. _Maybe injustice would be a better term._

Ru-Ru nodded his head emphatically. “Uh-hu, GJ bastards.”

Kim tilted her head and looked somewhat appalled at him. “Does Shego let you get away with that sort of language?”

The naked-mole-shark gave her a wide, innocent smile that showed off his razor-sharp teeth and nodded again, “uh-hu, uh-hu.”

 _Great, so he’s got a potty mouth too. Why am I not surprised Shego lets him away with that sort of thing? I bet the little sod thought he’d hit the jackpot when she agreed to let him stay with her, as I doubt Amy is a fan of bad language and violent films, or lets him eat a mountain of junk food._ “Let’s try and keep that to a minimum, shall we,” Kim said in the same tone she used to use on the Tweebs when giving them an instruction, not sure why she was treating him like a child she was babysitting. “However, I think I’m starting to agree with you about GJ. They never used to be so extreme.” _At least not that I saw._ She’d only given a few passing thoughts to her conversation with Dr Director over the past week. _Are they struggling that much that they’re starting to become more brutal as a result?_ She didn’t have the time nor the headspace to think about GJ and Betty. “I suppose it doesn’t really matter, Shego’s in jail and that’s that.”

Ru-Ru looked at her sweetly and held up his bag of peanuts again, “nut?” he offered.

A look of mild suspicion formed on Kim’s face, as she dipped her hand back into the bag. If it had been Rufus offering to share his peanuts, she wouldn’t have given the act a second thought. Only this was not Rufus. The naked-mole-rat was kind, considerate and would genuinely have tried to cheer her up. The naked-mole-shark, on the other hand, was sneaky, underhanded and not a fan of sharing.

She tossed the nuts into her mouth and received a smile from Ru-Ru, who then uttered, “Kimmie like Shego?”

Kim gave the naked-mole-shark a dark look at his use of the pet name. _At least it’s better than Princess._ She then turned her focus to his actual question. “I’m not sure I can like her. She’s a villain and I’m a hero. We’re rivals, nemeses.” She did not need flashes of all the good points from their two social encounters to know that it was a lie.

Ru-Ru gave her a sideways look and then, much to her horror, proceeded to do a one-naked-mole-shark interpretation of what she knew was her and Shego fighting and then making out inside the volcano lair. When he had finished, Ru-Ru then turned and gave her a pointed look.

Mouth still agape and olive green eyes wide, it took Kim several moments to respond. She felt so horrified... so exposed, at having been seen making out with Shego; with another girl. “You were watching us...” she finally managed to stammer. He may only have been a naked-mole-shark, but the idea that someone other than herself and Shego knew about her new secret almost sent her straight into panic mode.

“Uh-hu, uh-hu,” Ru-Ru replied with a cheeky smile. He then made a smooch-smooch gesture with his lips.

Kim snapped. _Oh my god, he saw me making out with Shego!_ Her brain then went into overdrive as she scanned her conversations with Wade and Ron, checking to see if anything she said might have given her away. _What if I said something that tipped one of them off to the fact I’m now a lesbian? What about the people I met on my mission, or those at Mama Joy’s or Smarty Mart? Did anything I said, did, or the way I acted give me away?_ Uncontrollably, she began to hyperventilate. _Oh crap! Oh Crap! Oh crap! Oh cr..._

“OWW!” Kim exclaimed, a sharp pain from the index finger of her left hand wrenching her out of her frenzied thoughts. Her eyes travelled down to discover that Ru-Ru had just bitten it. She shot him a sour glare, “what did you do that for?”

“Help,” the naked-mole-shark replied enthusiastically.

Much to her annoyance, considering she now had yet another bite mark on her hand, she had to admit that he had done just that. Her breathing slowly began to regulate and the sensible portion of her brain said, _calm down, Kim, you didn’t inadvertently let the whole world know that you’re gay. It’s all in your head._ Now she just had to convince herself it was true. She scowled at Ru-Ru, her finger throbbing but surprisingly not dripping blood. “Fine, I’ll let you off, just this once.”

The naked-mole-shark gave her a grin and reiterated, “like Shego.”

Kim shook her head and sighed, “she’s my rival. We’ve fought more times than I can count and occasionally inflicted serious injury on the other.” At the allusion to the scars on her left shoulder blade, the memory of the incident and the pain associated with it flared up inside her mind. “I tried to be her friend and she told me to go fuck myself,” _albeit, from her perspective, I did the exact same thing._ “She then purposefully ruined my first kiss since Ron, kicked my ass but didn’t bother to finish me off, messed with my head to ratchet up my anger,” she felt a remnant of said anger and her fists clenched, “manipulated me into a position where I couldn’t back out of kissing her and… and…” Kim sounded almost hysterical as she yelled, “and did all of that to help me figure out that I’m a lesbian!”

All of Kim’s pent up emotions from the past week suddenly poured forth in a torrent of hot tears and she huddled her knees tightly against her chest. Her fears about being gay, anxiety about what people might think of her, the trepidation of actually going out to look for a girlfriend and everything connected with Shego. Despite the fact she’d basically told the green-skinned woman to go fuck herself on their second night out, despite how angry and aggressive she had gotten and despite her attempts to cause grievous bodily harm to her rival, Shego had, in her own way, helped fast-track her through what otherwise would have been a very long, drawn-out and painful process. And it had felt unbelievably good. However, that final part she was still trying to avoid dealing with. “…but because of my reckless actions, Wade contacted GJ and she ended up getting thrown in jail,” she then whispered to herself.

Beside her, Ru-Ru climbed up onto the side of the sofa and gave her a light pat on the arm. “No cry, Kimmie,” he said in what sounded like genuine sympathy.

It took her several minutes to stop. When she eventually did manage to regain control and dry her eyes, she gazed at the naked-mole-shark, who stood on the arm of the sofa with his bag of dry-roasted peanuts.

“Nut?” Ru-Ru offered and gave her another smile.

After someone had just cried their eyes out over something they still did not fully comprehend, offering them some form of salty snack was perhaps one of the least appropriate things to do. Which is why Kim couldn’t help but laugh. Lacking the tact and nuances of a human, sharing his peanuts with her was perhaps the nicest thing that Ru-Ru could have imagined. “I’m ok,” she said with a faint smile and helped herself to a couple of nuts. _Am I trying to convince him or me as I’m not sure either of us will buy that lie?_

Ru-Ru at least was not convinced, as he quickly shook his head and uttered, “ut-uh.” A wide grin then formed on his face, “jailbreak?”

Kim looked at him incredulously. Now she knew exactly why she had been suspicious of him earlier. He’d got her talking about Shego and admitting that she did actually like her rival, all the while trying to butter her up/bribe her by offering her peanuts, which she’d bought! “You sneaky little sod!” she declared, her infuriation momentarily getting the better of her. “I actually thought you were genuinely being nice.”

Ru-Ru grinned at her and nodded his head, “uh-hu, uh-hu.”

“Trying to bribe me into breaking Shego out of jail isn’t being nice to me.”

The naked-mole-shark shook his head, “not you, Princess.”

It took her a moment to figure out what he had just implied. However, when she finally did catch on, her irritation evaporated. “You’re trying to be nice to Shego by getting me to break her out, aren’t you?”

Ru-Ru nodded again, “uh-hu, uh-hu.”

Kim let out a long, deflated sigh, “I’m sorry, Ru-Ru, but I can’t break her out…” Feelings of sorrow, regret and anguish were shaken up inside her, strained into a metaphorical cocktail glass and garnished with desire and lust. She dropped her head into her hands. “…I just can’t,” she finished, the words coming out almost like a wail.

Ru-Ru huffed, snatched up his bag of peanuts and stormed back to the other side of the sofa; blowing her a raspberry over his shoulder.

Kim watched him go and even though she’d refused him again, she could not escape the fact that she desperately wanted to do what he’d asked. To slip on her battle suit, drive the Sloth across the country, sneak into the prison and whisk Shego off to freedom. _I need to see her, to talk to her. There’s so much I need to ask her… assuming she’d ever want to talk to me again. If I could just apologise to her, explain what happened, maybe she’d be willing to sit down with me somewhere when she next gets out. However, I can’t sneak in just to talk to her. I wish there was some way I could talk to her without breaking the law?_

Kim would have been ashamed to admit that it actually took her several minutes to realise just how monumentally thick she was being. There was a way she could try and talk to Shego without breaking the law. It might be supervillain jail, but the prisoners were still allowed visitors. She knew that first hand, having gone to visit the fashionistas when in need of a new mission outfit. She’d just have to hope that curiosity would get the better of her rival and that she’d choose to entertain her. _This is the right thing to do. I can see Shego without having to break the law._ Mind made up, she rose to her feet and headed for her workroom to make preparations, thankful for having finally found some way out of the endless loop she’d been stuck in all week, tenuous though it may be.


	50. S208 (U2): Stuck inside these four walls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, folks, last chapter of the update. This time the chapter title is the opening line to Paul McCartney and Wings’ song Band on the run, from the album of the same name. Given where Shego ended up last time we saw her and that the opening verse of the song is about being in jail, I think it is highly appropriate. So, here’s chapter eight: Stuck inside these four walls.

Black. That’s all that could be seen inside the small cell, pitch black. There were no windows and not a speck of light managed to penetrate between door and frame. Yes, the cell was about as dark as you could get. And cold... bitterly cold. Cold to the point that the very air would catch in your lungs as you took a breath, force you to cough and, had there been any light, visible as you shakily exhaled. Not that they could be seen, but the room did contain scant furnishings; a narrow cot with a box base, a small sink and a toilet.

Atop the cot, clad in an orange jumpsuit and with a thin grey blanket huddled around her, lay a woman with green skin and raven hair. However, in this room such details were arbitrary. She huddled her knees close to her chest in a desperate attempt to keep warm but could do nothing to stop her body from constantly shivering. How long she had been here, she could not say. Two meals arrived each day, both consisting of a bowl of grey oatmeal, with a strange aftertaste and a glass of water. Unfortunately, she’d lost track of how many and since they were the exact same, she no longer knew whether it was day or night. Feeding time also served as the only time she saw light; five minutes allotted with each meal, then it was a return to the darkness. And each time, the dull illumination stung her eyes, forcing her to squint as she ate the blurry contents of a bowl she could barely make out.

The green-skinned woman lay in silence, bar when a shiver caused her teeth to chatter. The metaphorical green embers inside of her, that she had desperately endeavoured to keep alight, were close to flickering into oblivion. At the start of her confinement, she’d forced herself to exercise, in order to generate body heat to stay warm and keep those precious remnants of fire glowing. However, she’d eventually run out of energy and her food supply had only just been enough to sustain her. So, she’d retreated to lying on the cot and willing her mind to conjure up thoughts and images that might give the fading embers some semblance of sustenance. At times she’d fall asleep and then wake up sometime later, somehow feeling more tired. For the moment, she was awake but felt utterly exhausted. Her pale green skin, so used to being warm, felt frozen to the touch and had it not been for the constant shivers that wracked her body, she could easily have been mistaken for a clothed ice sculpture.

Eyes open or closed, it did not matter, for the same darkness surrounded her regardless. And somewhere amidst that bleak abyss, she could hear the voices of the two halves of her own personality argue relentlessly. A single subject having torn her mind apart. The green-skinned woman watched on as the two individuals, cast in her own image, battled with words.

 _“Why can’t you face up to the truth?”_ the first woman, dressed in a short brown skirt, grey jacket and teal turtle-neck, with a matching headband in her long raven hair, said in annoyance. She went by the moniker, Miss Go.

 _“What, the truth you’re choosing to ignore?”_ the second woman countered. She was clad in a form-fitting green and black catsuit, with matching gloves and boots. Her raven tresses flowed freely down her back. Her name, of course, was Shego.

The green-skinned woman felt her frail fire flicker, like the heated argument was slowly consuming, rather than kindling it.

 _“No, the truth that, if you would just accept it, might help free you from that cage you’ve kept yourself locked in for the past six years,”_ Miss Go retorted.

 _“Cage,”_ Shego snorted. _“I liberated you. You were a mess before I took charge. A pathetic, weak mess.”_

 _“Liberated, is that what you call your existence?”_ Miss Go asked rhetorically, her voice laced with contempt. _“You emotionally cut yourself off from every single person on the planet. You’re little more than a hollow shell that coasts through life under the delusion of contentment.”_

 _“It’s far better than the state you ended up in,”_ Shego spat. _“Any time you opened up to someone about anything, you got burned. Your parents, brothers, friends, all of them burnt you to the point you could barely cope. Then there was Danni…”_ she left the name to hang in the air like an unexploded bomb.

However, it seemed to have stopped close enough to the target, as Miss Go bit her lip and took a moment to compose herself before replying, _“what happened with Danni was… difficult to take.”_

The moment of hesitation before the reply was enough for Shego to capitalise and she took full advantage of it. _“Difficult? Don’t you mean apocalyptic? She laid waste to you with one shot and you had no one to blame but yourself. Your just lucky I was able to pick up the pieces; make you strong.”_

As the seconds ticked by, the green-skinned woman was treated to a montage of the events being cast up. It all felt like ancient history, murky and with the details skewed by time and personal bias. And for better or worse, like it had all occurred to someone else. Yet she felt almost nothing in relation to it. Simply a brief thought of, _that was an unfortunate event._

 _“Ok… I’ll accept I made a serious mistake with Danni and was not in a good place afterwards,”_ Miss Go said slowly. The woman then quickly went on the attack, _“but ever since, you’ve kept yourself so emotionally cut off from other human beings that you can’t even be friends with someone, let alone anything more.”_

 _“That’s because I don’t need friends,”_ Shego retorted. _“I get by perfectly well by myself.”_

 _“Exactly,”_ Miss Go stated firmly, _“you just, ‘get by’, that’s it. Your lack of proper human connection means your life is predominantly flat. Sure, you avoid the lows that would otherwise hurt you, but you miss out on most of the highs too.”_

 _“That’s bullshit!”_ Shego barked. _“I get plenty of highs **and** don’t get hurt in the process; win-win.”_

 _“Really,”_ Miss Go challenged. _“What highs have you had in the past month?”_

 _“Doy, how about my five fights with Kimmie? Pretty sure those were some major highs,”_ Shego said almost offhandedly, like the answer had been so simple that it required no thought.

A thin smile formed on Miss Go’s face and a light laugh escaped from her mouth.

 _“What’s funny?”_ Shego demanded.

 _“You,”_ Miss Go answered, a look of satisfaction on her face. _“Your immediate reaction was to list some of the interactions you had with virtually the only person with whom you have any sort of emotional connection, discounting a certain naked-mole-shark, of course.”_

A green inferno blazed behind Shego’s eyes as she yelled, _“I do not have an emotional connection with Kim fucking Possible!”_

This only caused Miss Go to laugh even harder. _“Case and point, Cupcake. Now, do I need to go into the details of the two nights you spent with Kim in Spritzers, not to mention the rather hot, no pun intended, make-out session the two of you had inside Dr Drakken’s volcano lair? Or are you going to be woman enough to accept the truth?”_

 _“WHAT FUCKING TRUTH!”_ Shego bellowed, her fists clenching and looking as though they might combust into balls of green plasma at any moment.

 _“That you want a relationship with Kim that is deeper than just the rivalry you share with her,”_ Miss Go answered plainly, seemingly unphased by her counterpart’s savage outburst.

Even though she had not asked for it, the green-skinned woman was then treated to another series of flashbacks, this time focusing on the very events that Miss Go had listed. Like before, she felt almost nothing in regards to them, even though they were so much fresher and undistorted in her memory. When it reached the volcano lair, a memory of the heat inside it surfaced and her body shivered violently. Would she ever be warm again? Things then quickly concluded with a fast-paced fight sequence, followed by the aforementioned ‘hot’, albeit brief, make-out session with the girl known as Kim. She knew it was her entangled with the red-haired vixen; bodies pressed against one another and tongues intertwined. Yet the only thought she could muster was a dispassionate, _that’s nice._

Shego, on the other hand, was a tad more volatile in her response, _“I DO **NOT** WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH THAT FUCKING BITCH!” _

_“Ok,”_ Miss Go replied in a placating tone, _“I’m sensing some issues on your part regarding Kim at the moment.”_

 _“Some issues!”_ Shego yelled incredulously. _“Have you forgotten that bitch is the one responsible for me ending up in jail and having my glow suppressed!”_ To illustrated her point, the woman raised her right fist and tried to ignite it in a green ball of plasma; nothing happened.

At the mention of her glow, the green-skinned woman became acutely aware of the hollow, emptiness that permeated her being. Her unearthly superpower had been an integral part of her for so long; physically altered every cell in her body, that to have it suppressed made her feel like her very soul had been sucked out. And at present, what remained was struggling not to be overcome by the sheer icy darkness of her small cell.

 _“You don’t know that for certain,”_ Miss Go then said, by way of a counter to the other woman’s last point.

 _“Really?”_ Shego snorted in disdain. _“So, GJ just happened to show up in time to arrest myself and Drakken?”_

 _“There are other reasons why Global Justice might have shown up. After all, Dr Drakken’s lair was in a location that could have caused serious damage had things blew up, which they did,”_ Miss Go rationalised. _“Besides, you have to remember, Kim was in a very aggressive and angry state, with a strong desire to see you suffer, all because of **your** actions. Even if she did contact them before she arrived, her disposition towards you definitely changed after that first kiss.”_

 _“Yeah right,”_ Shego spat. _“The bitch probably just used it as a stall tactic to allow her buddies more time to arrive. Don’t think I didn’t see her saunter off with Betty as I was being tossed into that chopper.”_

Miss Go was silent for a moment and a contemptuous smile danced upon the lips of her counterpart. When she finally did reply, her response was careful and considered, _“there are multiple reasons why she might have gotten in that chopper with Betty. First and foremost, the active volcano on which she was standing, which could easily have erupted.”_

 _“I’m not buying that shit,”_ Shego snarled. _“Kimmie’s a bitch and I’m having nothing more to do with her.”_

 _“That’s not true and you know it!”_ Miss Go replied with similar steel in her voice. _“And If you don’t accept the fact that you want something more between the two of you, you’ll miss the opportunity of something special with the one person who fully understands you!”_

The argument continued inside the green-skinned woman’s head, which had begun to hurt as a result. She was starting to feel like the two halves of her personality were going to physically rip her in two. She gazed at the two women, desperation painted all over her face, as tears threatened to escape from the corners of her eyes. _Please… stop…_ she whimpered.

Shego and Miss Go turned to stare at her and simultaneously yelled, _“shut up! We didn’t ask for your opinion. You’re just a worthless husk. The dregs left over after we’ve been suppressed by that damn serum. You can’t even cling on to a few glowing embers.”_

The harshness of the dual reply rattled the green-skinned woman into silence. They had finally found agreement on something; that she was nothing without them. She could only watch on helplessly as they said in unison, _“let’s go, this one’s got no fire left.”_ The two women joined hands and merged into one. Disappearing at the precise moment that the last remnants of fire were consumed by the black abyss. Now very much alone in the icy darkness, the green-skinned woman desperately tried to huddle her thin blanket tighter around herself, as cold tears ran down her cheeks like freezing raindrops. Her spark once more well and truly snuffed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I hope you all enjoyed the second update of season two. I certainly enjoyed writing it.
> 
> First up, I want to talk a little about chapter five and what happened between Kim and Ron. This was a rather difficult chapter to write, largely because there were several different routes this encounter could have gone down, such as them properly talking about everything, a big argument, Kim slamming the door in Ron’s face or them coming to blows. In the end, I used the characters frames of mind leading up to the moment where Kim opens the door to decide how it should go down. Ron, having made the effort to seek Kim out, had obviously let go of his anger enough to want things to be civil between them and Kim, who had been thinking about Ron and how much she missed him, was in a place where she was willing to listen. Hence, why I felt a physical and verbal fight was unlikely to occur. On the flip side, Kim had so much going on inside her own head that she could not open up to Ron at that point in time and he was hesitant to push the matter. So, while they may not have talked about much, they at least no longer hate each other.
> 
> As for Kim’s second chapter, it was a lot easier to write and although it seemed to repeat things from her previous chapters, I felt it was important to illustrate just how much of a problem she is having regarding her newfound sexual preferences and how circular it all is for her. As always, I loved writing Ru-Ru in this chapter and found the idea of him trying to bribe Kim into breaking Shego out of jail with peanuts rather amusing.
> 
> Speaking of Shego, it was good to be able to write her a little bit less flat in this update... and then I took it away again. Ah well, dem’s the breaks, lol. In all seriousness, writing Drakken, Dementor and Frugal Lucre was highly amusing, much like when I wrote the chapters at Drakken’s boardgame day. I’ll maybe have to find another opportunity to group some of the villains together. As for Shego’s second chapter, that was an interesting write and I’m really happy with how it turned out. I hope you guys enjoyed it too.
> 
> So, in regards to the next update. Due to being stuck doing DIY for the past two weeks, my writing time has been limited and I’ve only managed to write one chapter in that time. However, it is a 10K plus chapter and the only one I planned to put in the next update (yeah, I suck ;p) and will be uploaded in two weeks. Hopefully, I will have the chance to write more over the next couple of weeks, so I will have the chapters I want to include in update four ready for the appropriate time.
> 
> As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read And You And I, and for all your support. Until next time, stay safe and enjoy life.
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


	51. S209 (U3): Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boo! Heh, bet you guys weren't expecting to hear from me for another week. However, while this particular chapter was a ba***rd to write, I've both finished it and the next two and so, since this was always going to be just a single chapter update, I decided to share it with you all a week early. Don't say I'm not good to you, lol ;p.
> 
> So, when we last left our lovely ladies, Shego was locked up in solitary confinement and not having a good time of it and Kim, who has been struggling to wrap her head around her newfound sexuality, finally decided she needed to do something about it and so is going to visit Shego in jail. What could Possibly go wrong? 
> 
> For this chapter, the title is taken from yet another Pink Floyd song, this time Shine on you crazy diamond pts1-5, from their 1975 masterpiece Wish you were here (did I mention that it's my favourite album of all time?) Anyway, the lyric was written by Roger Waters (the band's main lyricists) and is a tragically beautiful description of the eyes of someone who's body is there but their mind is gone. In the case of the song, he was referring to the bands original lead guitarist, Syd Barratt, and how he looked after he took one acid trip too many. And with respect to this chapter, I am using it to describe the vacant look in Shego's eyes. Lol, sorry for the history lesson there, but I've had this chapter title in mind since before the end of season one and am thrilled to finally post the chapter that bears it.
> 
> As always, I want to thank all of you for all the kudos and the kind words you have left me in the comments. I am also thrilled that there are nearly 100 people subscribed to this story. I certainly did not expect this much interest when I first started to write it. So, thank you all. 
> 
> Right, that's enough from me for now. Enjoy chapter nine: Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky, and I'll see you all at the end.
> 
> P.S. This chapter takes our little one-shot past the 250K word mark, Woo-hoo!

Kim had woken at her normal time of six-thirty that morning and completed her routine run and workout for the first time since the incident at the volcano lair. This had been followed by her usual shower, after which she had dressed in the light-blue variant of her mission gear. However, normality had ended there, and she’d succumbed to temptation and eaten toaster tarts for breakfast. After that, she’d left a note on the coffee table for a sleeping Ru-Ru to find when he woke up, explaining that she’d gone out and wouldn’t be back until late evening. She’d debated whether or not to invite the naked-mole-shark to come with her but decided against it. Her need to talk to Shego alone trumping what sympathy she felt for him. She’d then headed down to the Sloth and set off on the long trek; across two state lines, to the county’s highest security prison.

It should have been an arduous ten-hour drive, but thanks to the Tweebs and their mechanical prowess, the time had been cut down by two thirds. On route, Kim had telephoned ahead and informed the Prison she was coming. The lieutenant to whom she had eventually been put through had not been thrilled at the prospect. Indeed, she had sensed he had been about to refuse her outright, at which point she had dropped her name. As expected, he had quickly become more accommodating. However, she’d needed to pedal a pre-formulated excuse about needing to get information from Shego, regarding where she’d stashed some of the tech she had stolen prior to being arrested, in order to get him to agree without having to exert excess pressure on him. After the conversation had ended, she’d come away with the distinct impression that the man would try and eavesdrop on her conversation by any means possible, probably with the intent of relaying the info to Global Justice HQ. So, she was banking on the Kimmunicator being able to detect and disrupt any such attempts.

Had the semi-argument been the only issue Kim had faced before she brought the Sloth to a stop outside the imposing steel doors of the penitentiary, she probably would have felt fine. However, as soon as she’d hung up and her visit with Shego had become official, she had almost turned the car around and headed for the safety of home. To say she felt apprehensive about seeing her rival was akin to classing Dr Drakken as only mildly inept at supervillainy. She had no idea what she would encounter inside. _Will Shego even be willing to talk to me?_ That was only the first hurdle and she would be lying if she said part of her hoped the green-skinned woman simply outright refused the visit. _What on earth do I say to her if she does agree to talk to me? Hey, sorry I got you locked up in jail. By the way, I’m a lesbian now and want to ask your advice about how I actually go about finding a girlfriend?_ Kim sighed and shook her head. _Urgh, that sounds totally shitty._

A loud creak sounded from the direction of the prison and drew Kim’s attention back to the large stone walls; crowned with razor wire. She cast her gaze to either side and took in the heavily armed guard towers situated at the corners. Needless to say, it would require some serious firepower to break in or out of this facility. Which made the fact Shego had done so in the past with just her bare hands all the more impressive and terrifying in equal measure. _No wonder GJ go to such lengths to try and keep her glow suppressed if even this fortress can’t contain her._ In front of her, the large steel doors slowly slid open. The creaking of the machinery perhaps an indication that this was a rare occurrence. Kim drove the Sloth forward and followed the direction of a guard into a small parking lot, which had a double wire fence surrounding it; both electrified. She parked in a space beside a pristine classic Mustang, not that she recognised the make or model. However, while she did admire the sleek sky-blue bodywork, the thought that came to mind was, _that must have cost a significant amount of money. It must surely belong to someone important._

Taking a deep breath, Kim climbed out of her car and met with the guard who had directed her. “Miss Possible, I’m Lieutenant Boyle,” he said in a flinty tone. “We spoke on the phone a couple of hours ago. Allow me to escort you inside.”

 _Hmm, he seems about as happy to see me as he was to talk on the phone._ She chose to ignore his demeanour and simply replied, “lead on,” as she followed the man towards the first gate.

They had to pass through each electrified fence in turn before the Lieutenant led her towards the inner wall. Like the outer one, it was an equally imposing hunk of thick grey stone and had its own complement of heavily armed guard towers and razor wire. Before they reached the front door, Kim couldn’t help herself and behind the Lieutenant’s back, did a quick scan of the no-mans-land between the two walls with her Kimmunicator, revealing both a laser grid and what she assumed must be some sort of minefield. _Wow, they aren’t messing around now. I don’t recall there being this much security when I came to see the Fashionistas. GJ must be serious about trying to keep their bad eggs inside the basket._

When they reached the steel door, it opened to reveal a short passageway and a second door. They stepped inside and had to wait a full thirty seconds after the first one closed behind them before the second opened. “I’m impressed with what you’ve done with the place since my last visit,” Kim commented offhandedly. She wasn’t necessarily fishing for information but would happily take it if the Lieutenant offered it.

“Thank you, Miss,” Boyle replied. “Global Justice became concerned with security after the ‘incident’ two and a half years ago and so petitioned Captain Brooks to return and allay their fears.”

Kim was unfamiliar with the Captain to whom the guard referred but knew that the incident he had mentioned had been when Warmonga had broken Drakken out. Although in fairness, she suspected that had simply been the final straw, after both Motor Ed and Señor Senior, Junior had independently busted Shego out. As they crossed the courtyard to Cellblock D, she decided to probe further, “it seems like they’re doing a good job. Have you had any breakouts since the ‘incident’?” She knew the answer but asked the question in the hopes of preying on what she suspected was an inflated sense of pride in the current setup.

“Just the one, Miss. A combined effort by Professor Dementor and Motor Ed. However, thanks to you, both are back where they belong.” As they waited to be granted access to the cellblock, the Lieutenant added, “I can tell you, the Captain was not happy when they broke out. She put the entire place on lockdown until all the damage from their escape was repaired and the minefield installed.”

 _So, it is a minefield, good to know._ “What sort of mines are we talking about?” she asked, lacing her tone with approval in the hopes his pride would result in him forgetting he probably shouldn’t be telling her such information.

“Purely concussive, Miss, but with enough grunt to take down an elephant. However, if the Captain had been allowed her way, they would have been lethal. Unfortunately, my understanding of the situation is that the top brass at Global Justice didn’t like the idea of purposely trying to kill inmates who attempt to escape.”

“Now that does sound rather extreme,” Kim commented without thinking. _Seriously, his boss wanted to plant lethal mines! At least Betty’s not stooped to that level… yet._

“Like yourself, Captain Brooks takes her job seriously, Miss,” the Lieutenant replied in a somewhat defensive tone. “You might send supervillains here, but she’s the one responsible for making sure they stay; permanently. You can’t put a price on global security.”

“I guess not,” Kim agreed reluctantly, already sensing that she and this Captain Brooks would not see eye to eye when it came to the treatment of the inmates. The door to cellblock D opened and she followed Lieutenant Boyle through a series of security doors towards the visitation area. “I want to speak with Shego in private; away from the other inmates and the guards,” she then said, allowing a slight firmness to enter her tone.

The man looked at her like she had said something insane. “I’m afraid I cannot allow that,” he replied incredulously. “Shego’s considered to be the most dangerous inmate here. I simply cannot have her left alone with **any** visitor.”

Kim turned and gave the man a stern look. “I’ve been handling Shego at full strength since I was sixteen and have sent her here numerous times. I know what I’m doing,” she said in a no-nonsense voice. It wasn’t technically true. During their midnight dual in the Middleton High playing fields, she’d deduced that her rival had been holding back on her until the night of her junior prom, which Shego had then confirmed. However, Boyle did not need to know that little detail.

“I’m sorry, Miss, but I,” the Lieutenant began, but Kim had already been prepared to cut him off the second she heard the word sorry.

“You might have trouble handling her, but I don’t,” she declared, her olive-green eyes ablaze and boring into the man’s light blues. “Besides, I have it on good authority that she can’t use her plasma at present.”

The man looked more than slightly taken aback and Kim suspected that the knowledge of what happened to Shego each time she got incarcerated was supposed to be one of GJ’s dirty little secrets. Before Boyle had the chance to recover, she pressed the advantage she’d just carved out. “I **will** see Shego, Lieutenant, and I will do so **alone**. Now, take me to a suitable room and have her brought out.” 

“Captain Brooks will not like this,” the Lieutenant said. While he’d backed down from his outright refusal, the man possibly hoped that invoking his superior would be enough to change her mind. However, he’d failed to appreciate two things. One, she was not one of Captain Brooks’ underlings and so had nothing to fear from the woman and two, she was Kim Possible.

“Then, by all means, go fetch her,” Kim said smoothly, not a hint of fear in her still authoritative tone.

“She isn’t here at the moment,” the Lieutenant said quickly and with a hint of panic in his tone.

Kim smiled internally, _perfect. I’m willing to bet if he’s trying to scare me with his Captain, that he himself is afraid of her._ “Which puts you in charge, Lieutenant. So, it’s your call. Either you do as I’ve requested, or I wait until your Captain gets back and let her know that you’ve wasted both my time and **her** time.”

She could see it in the man’s eyes that the mere suggestion that this Captain Brooks might blame him for her time being wasted was enough to erode the last of his resistance. The Lieutenant lowered his head slightly, uttered, “I’ll see to your request immediately, Miss Possible,” and quickly beckoned her to follow him.

The Lieutenant led Kim past the room with the bandit screens and telephones and into a small square one with white walls. A metal table and two chairs were bolted to the floor. “This will do fine, Lieutenant. Now, go and fetch Shego for me,” she purposefully phrased it as an order, like she was pulling a non-existent rank over him and in the hopes that he, in turn, would force her rival into the visit. The green-skinned woman probably wouldn’t appreciate being dragged to see her against her will, but Kim wouldn’t even get the chance to apologise if Shego refused to even see her.

“Make yourself comfortable, Miss, and I’ll go and fetch her,” Lieutenant Boyle said and hastily left the room.

The confrontation with the Lieutenant had worked wonders to focus her mind on something other than her fears about what might happen when Shego arrived, but now that he had departed, it was open season once more. Possible options for approaching the conversation and likely outcomes began to swirl around inside her head, like someone was using her skull to make a pot of soup. Kim sat down in the chair opposite the door to wait.

##

The cell’s solitary bulb flickered into life and bathed the tiny room in a dull glow. While it would not normally have been considered bright, it was almost blinding to Shego. Her eyes immediately began to sting and instinctively she screwed them up. _Feeding time already?_ she thought without a shred of emotion, as she shakily raised her head. However, instead of the creaking of the small door hatch and the scraping of a tray on the concrete floor, she heard the heavy thunk of the bolt opening, followed by the slam of the metal door hitting the wall. Realising that something out with the established routine was happening, she forced her eyes to open a crack. The dull light immediately flooded them and caused her head to hurt and the scene before her to appear blurry.

“Get her up,” a flinty male voice ordered. This was followed by the sound of footsteps, as two blurry black blobs closed in on her.

Shego didn’t have the strength to resist as she was hauled to her feet, however, a faint thought filled her mind, _please just leave me here…_ The guards didn’t waste any time in dragging her towards the light and her eyes involuntarily closed before she got halfway to the door. However, after a few more paces, she was brought out of the cell and the light from the corridor managed to penetrate her eyelids enough to cause her eyes to hurt.

“You’re lucky you were due out in an hour or I would have point blank refused your visitor,” the flinty voice commented.

Shego opened her eyes a crack but found herself unable to see more than a hazy outline of a figure in black. _Visitor?_

As though she had asked the question out loud, the man answered, “however, by the looks of you, it’s going to be a waste of time. I might as well just toss you back in the hole and forget about you. That being said, I’m not taking any chances.” He paused for a moment, before barking an order at what she could only imagine was some more of his subordinates, “you two, restrain her.”

Her eyes had just started to adjust when a second pair of guards approached and her arms were thrust out in front of her by the ones that had a hold on her. Before she could even process what was happening, she felt rough canvas brush against her hands, as her arms were fed into those of a heavy straitjacket. One of the guards then moved behind her and began to buckle each of the straps a notch too tight. She felt a growing pressure on her chest, like she was being laced into an old-fashioned corset and she struggled to take a full breath. Her arms were then roughly pulled across her chest and the straps on the end of the closed sleeves buckled together, just as tight as the others. The guard at the front then looped a single strap that hung between her breasts around her arms and buckled it. He then fed a further two straps, that dangled from the hem, between her legs and passed them to the guard behind her, who crossed them over and fastened them securely to the back of the jacket.

Shego then felt the unmistakable bite of a pair of leg irons being placed around her ankles, before she was pushed forwards. Her eyes had adjusted now and she could see the upright barrow towards which she was being guided. Again, she gave no thought to resisting and like a ragdoll, allowed the guards to shove her onto and strap her to it. However, before they set off, she was forced to endure one final humiliation that, had she been her normal self, would certainly have elicited a biting comment. A hard leather muzzle that covered her face from her chin to her nose and with a small grated opening for her to breathe through, was placed over her mouth and tightly secured behind her head.

The man with the flinty voice, whom she now recognised as the lieutenant who had stopped Morgan from pulverising her on day two, then walked around her and inspected her bindings. Only once he was satisfied, did he issue the command for the guards to move her. It was slightly disconcerting for Shego when the guards tilted her back, forcing her to stare up at the ceiling and began to wheel her out of the solitary confinement block. At each and every security gate they reached; she was brought to a halt as the guard on duty checked that the proper clearance had been given for her to be transported to the visitor area. However, it took until the third such stop for Shego to even ponder who might have come all the way out here to visit her. Unfortunately, she quickly drew a blank. Her brothers, even the Wego’s with whom she got on best, had only ever visited her in jail once. And that had been the first time she had been properly incarcerated. She recalled the visit had lasted less than five minutes, with Hego speaking for them all when he had declared that he’d needed to see her in prison to believe that she had indeed descended into villainy. At which point she had yelled at them to get the fuck out and demanded she be returned to her cell.

Shego’s unfocused gaze stared up at the ceiling, like she was looking through it, as her addled mind tried in vain to think of anyone who might come to visit her. Eventually, the thought, _no one cares enough to want to visit me,_ managed to form as she felt the barrow set off once more. Ultimately, it didn’t matter, as she would soon find out.

##

The minutes ticked by inside the small white room and Kim sat uncomfortably in her metal chair. Some fifteen minutes ago, after she had scanned the room with her Kimmunicator, found several cameras and recording devices and disabled the lot, her palms had started to become clammy. This had been the first outward sign, followed by beads of sweat forming on the back of her neck and her left leg beginning to twitch, that she was becoming exceptionally nervous about the visit. _What if Shego refuses to even talk to me? Or what if I see her and feel the urge to kiss her… oh god! I never even thought about that. I’ve come to talk to her but haven’t even started to sort out how I actually feel about her._

Like she had forgotten to revise for a major test, Kim’s mind desperately started trying to cram at the last minute. _Do I **like** Shego? Or was what happened in Drakken’s lair a spur of the moment reaction to having kissed her once? Would I have taken things further had those generators not blown? Do I want it to happen again? _The possible answers to that last question scared her the most. If it came back as a no, then there wouldn’t be a problem and she could breathe easy. However, if it turned out to be a yes, that would open a whole other can of worms that she did not know if she could deal with. Not on top of still trying to figure out how on earth she was supposed to go about being a lesbian or how people would react to her if it became public, or worse parental knowledge.

Kim tried to take a few calming breaths. _I’m just here to apologise to her, tell her Ru-Ru is ok and ask her advice about being a lesbian; that’s it. Besides, she’s in jail and most likely will be for several months, so I can’t do anything that involves her, even if I wanted to… which I don’t._ Unfortunately, Kim had a bad feeling she’d added that last part purely for self-preservation’s sake.

The sound of the heavy metal door opening drew her out of her musings and Kim’s eyes immediately zeroed in on it. Lieutenant Boyle strode inside and after him… _oh my god!_ her eyes widened on seeing Shego wheeled in on a vertical barrow. Of all the ways she had pictured this encounter beginning, watching her rival be brought in trussed up in a straitjacket with a muzzle covering half her face, had not even crossed her mind. A brief flash of anger caught Kim by surprise and her fists clenched slightly. _Why the hell are they treating her like she’s Hannibal Lecter? She’s a human being, not some wild and dangerous animal._ Unfortunately, the manner in which her rival had been restrained was not the worst thing about the situation.

Shego, for her part, felt slightly disorientated as she was finally pushed upright and her gaze struggled to focus on the blurry individual in front of her. And the only thought that managed to form in her mind was, _why is it so bright in here?_

“You ladies have fun,” Lieutenant Boyle said with an almost nasty smile before he headed for the door.

Kim quickly got to her feet as the man and his underlings left the room. The second the door closed, she crossed the room in a few strides and stood in front of Shego. Immediately she took in the woman’s greasy and unkempt raven hair, slumped head and just general state of deservedness. It was so un-Shego like that Kim could not help but utter in disbelief, “what have they done to you?” Without thinking, she reached behind the green-skinned woman’s head and began to unbuckle the muzzle.

It was only when her rival drew up in front of her, that Shego actually managed to focus on and recognise her. “Kim?” she whispered, as much to herself as to the hero. _Why would you be visiting me?_ Inside she felt a small spark, like someone had flicked the striker on a Zippo lighter, but it failed to catch.

The buckles finally came loose in Kim’s hands and she pulled the mask away from her rival’s face and tossed it to the floor. “Shego I’m…” she began to say but stopped abruptly as her olive-green eyes met with a pair of listless, dull greens. Her rival’s pupils were large and so devoid of light that it was like she was staring into a pair of black holes. “Shego… what have they done to you?” Kim repeated, her tone conveying how shellshocked and horrified she felt at seeing the green-skinned woman like this.

It took a lot of effort for Shego to focus on the girl in front of her. However, even when she managed to do that, her mind could barely conjure up anything to say and so she simply uttered, in a slow monotone, the same question she’d asked of herself a moment ago, “why are you here?” Her internal Zippo was struck again and for a brief moment there was a flicker of green flame, but her rival’s next action caused it to quickly die.

It felt like an icy-cold blade had just been plunged into Kim’s gut when she heard Shego’s question. The green-skinned woman’s words having been so devoid of any inflexion or tone that she struggled to come to terms with just how absent her rival was. It felt like the being that was Shego had been left back in her cell and that the guards had simply brought along her semi-animated corpse. _Is this the result of the GJ serum? Is this how she spends the bulk of her time while in jail?_ The thought horrified Kim, made worse by the fact that she had been partly responsible on this occasion and fully responsible on numerous prior occasions for Shego having been incarcerated. She forced herself to meet the green-skinned woman’s unfocused gaze and felt a surge of anger course through her. _She doesn’t deserve to be treated like this!_ Fuelled by an untempered rage, she turned and stormed across the room to the door. With a ferocity akin to that of an angry tiger, she seized the handle and threw the heavy metal door open. It crashed against the wall with a satisfying thud and she stormed into the corridor. “Boyle!” Kim bellowed, her eyes darting around in search of the man, locating him somewhere off to her left. The hero strode forward, flaming red hair fanning out behind her and a thunderous expression on her face. “What the hell have you and your people done to Shego?” she demanded.

Back in the room, Shego heard the almighty crash from the door hitting the wall and it sent a jolt through her body. She shook her head as her gaze managed to focus on her surroundings. _What on earth?_ Her dull-green eyes glanced around the room, taking in the white walls and scant metal furniture. It took her a moment to realise where she was. _This is one of the visitor rooms. Wait a minute…_ her eyes scanned the small room again but saw nothing else. _Kim… she was here. I’m sure of it._ She twisted her head to the left as far as it would go and was just able to see outside the room. While there was no one standing within the sliver of corridor she could see, she quickly heard voices. 

In front of Kim, Lieutenant Boyle stared at her, slightly taken aback by her outburst. However, he did not immediately respond. Indeed, it was a few silent moments later that his eyes widened, and he began to stutter, “C… C… Ca…”

“Is there a problem, Lieutenant Boyle?” the stern, harsh voice of a woman barked from behind Kim, cutting the man off before he had even managed to utter his first word.

Kim did not need to have heard the Lieutenant’s stuttered C’s to know that the woman who had just spoken must be his superior; Captain Brooks. She turned around and took in the woman. Tall and slender, the Captain carried herself with a no-nonsense air that had a whiff of menace about it. Her black uniform: trousers, shirt and sturdy boots, looked pristine and her hair was tied behind her head in a high knot. Her badge and belt buckle looked like they had been polished to within an inch of their metallic lives; her boots too. _No wonder Boyle fears her. I can feel the waves of authority and discipline rolling off her already and she’s still half a corridor away._

Back in the visitor room, Shego froze upon hearing Captain Brooks’ firm voice echo from down the corridor. She was then acutely aware of the sound of heavy footsteps, each step deliberate and imposing, like the Captain’s every action purposefully tried to dominate everything she came into contact with. _What is Brooks doing here?_

While the Captain’s mere presence might have been enough to cause her underlings to soil themselves, Kim was made of sterner stuff and stood her ground. “Captain Brooks,” she said in a calm, yet firm tone, like the first words between the two of them were akin to a handshake that both parties wanted to exert the most pressure on.

“And you must be Kim Possible,” Captain Brooks replied, her voice matching Kim’s pound for pound. The Captain quickly crossed the distance between them and held out a slender hand. “I’m Captain Claudia Brooks; warden of this facility. It’s good to finally meet you in person.”

Kim met the Captain’s gaze, her own firm, as she replied, “Kim Possible; pro-hero and world saviour.” While she had an immediate dislike for the woman, given the state Shego was in and the discovery about her wish for a lethal minefield in the no-mans-land between the outer and inner prison walls, she had to remember that she and Captain Brooks were technically allies. Both on the side of law and order; trying to keep the world safe from supervillains. However, while she might not know the finer details of the arrangement, Brooks was effectively a GJ operative and one whom she suspected had a fair amount of clout. All of this meant she at least needed to observe the pleasantries… for now. Kim took the offered hand and like they were testosterone-fuelled men, the two women tried to outmuscle each other. After several shakes, it ended in a stalemate and they each released the other’s grip at the same time.

In the narrow strip of corridor that Shego could see from inside the visitor room, she saw a pair of gloved hands meet and embrace. _What are you doing Kim?_ she thought, but her mind, after hearing the pair exchange pleasantries and spurred on by the part of her that currently hated her rival, had already started to come up with the answer. _She brought GJ down upon me and Drakken. Of course she’s going to be friendly with Brooks._ The brief conversation that followed only helped to confirm this unfortunate viewpoint. 

“If you are finished with my inmate, why don’t we go to my office for a cup of coffee and a chat?” Captain Brook’s then said to Kim. While it was oh so subtle, the hero did not fail to notice the slight upward curl of the woman’s lip as she finished, “I would hate for your journey to have been for nothing.”

Kim’s brain quickly rationalised the situation. She was not finished with Shego, not by a long shot, given that she hadn’t even managed to ask her a single question. However, she’d known the moment she’d started into those black holes in the sky that she could ask her rival the same questions over and over again and not get any sort of helpful answer. The fact of the matter being that Shego simply was not capable of helping her with anything in her current state. “Yes, I’m done,” Kim replied, managing to keep the resignation from her voice, “and I wouldn’t mind a soda if you have one.”

“Excellent,” Captain Brooks declared, her tone clearly indicating that she felt she had just scored the first point. The woman then turned to her lieutenant, “take the inmate back to cellblock D. I think we can strike a single hour from her time in solitary confinement… just this once.”

 _Solitary confinement!_ Kim yelled inside her head and almost let it slip out from behind her teeth. _How long have they kept her in there?_ She made a mental note to ask the Captain about that, along with everything else that had been inflicted upon Shego during her first ten days of incarceration, once they reached the woman’s office.

“If you would like to follow me, Kim,” Brooks then said and strode off down the corridor.

As Kim walked past the door to the visitor room, she caught the briefest glance of Shego and was sure that her rival had her head turned in her direction, however, Lieutenant Boyle and his underlings quickly blocked her view and the moment was gone. Grudgingly, she tore her gaze away from the doorway and followed the Captain down the corridor.

Shego caught a fleeting glimpse of Kim before Lieutenant Boyle and the other guards entered the room. One of them immediately picked up the muzzle and placed it back over her face and buckled it tight. She was then tilted backwards and wheeled out of the room. When she was taken the short distance to the first security gate, she was stood upright again, allowing her gaze to travel down the corridor. At the opposite end, the sight of Kim’s flaming red tresses drew her attention and the opposite part of her, the side that lusted after her rival, cut through the lingering anger and elicited the thought, _Kim came here to see **me**. _Her gaze turned to one of desperation and longing as the security gate at the far end of the corridor opened and Captain Brooks led Kim through it. Just conversing about the hero had helped to reignite her spark last week and now the girl was actually here, yet now agonisingly beyond her reach. Not sure of what else to do, Shego opened her mouth and yelled, “Kim!”

The security door closed behind her, just as the sound of Shego yelling her name reached Kim’s ears. She turned and even though they were about ten meters apart, their gazes met. _Shit! She’s properly aware that I’m here._

However, before Kim could do or say anything, the commanding voice of Captain Brooks called to her from the next security gate, “this way, Kim. I think my inmate has had enough excitement for one day. She is going back to her cell.”

The Captain’s tone told Kim that despite any protest she might give, she would not be allowed to go back and talk to Shego. For a brief moment, she thought about hacking the gate that now separated them and sprinting to her rival’s aid. Unfortunately, common sense told her that she could do no such thing. She was a hero and her rival a villain. And such an act would raise far too many unwanted questions. Reluctantly, she tore her gaze away, knowing that the opportunity to talk to Shego had gone. Glumly, Kim trudged after Captain Brooks.

Even at this distance, Shego knew that her rival was staring directly at her. And a mixture of lust and hate swirled around inside her as her internal Zippo sparked once again. Kim had come to see her but then gone off with Captain Brooks. However, even if one feeling won out over the other it mattered naught, as she was powerless to act on either. Behind her, she heard the buzz to signal the security gate was about to open. A second later, Shego was tilted back and her gaze once more met the ceiling. It seemed that it did not matter how many times her internal Zippo sparked, as Captain Brooks had siphoned off the fuel that would allow the green flame to light. The hollow feeling quickly took root once more as she was wheeled back to cellblock D.

##

By the time she was escorted back to her cell, Shego had started to zone out again. The anguish of having her spark so close to reigniting but ultimately failing to catch had caused a whiplash effect and now she felt hollower than she had prior to the brief encounter with Kim. The barrow came to a stop outside the open door and she was once more tilted into an upright position. Under the supervision of Lieutenant Boyle, the guards removed her restraints. She then received a hard shove in the back and staggered into the cell. Losing her balance, she crashed to the floor.

Dazed and not fully aware of what was going on, Shego had failed to notice that Bonnie had been sat on the lower bunk; reading a book. The moment the green-skinned woman had stumbled over the threshold, her cellmate had glanced over the top of her paperback and promptly rolled her eyes. “Don’t you look a total mess,” the former cheerleader said, her tone somewhat disapproving.

Next thing Shego knew, an arm had been wrapped around her and she was being pulled up onto her feet.

“If you think I’m lifting you onto the top bunk, you can forget it,” Bonnie grunted, as she guided Shego over to the lower bunk and sat her down.

It took a moment and great effort for Shego to turn her head; it felt like lead and cast her listless gaze upon her cellmate. “Thank you,” she said, her voice a low, slow monotone.

The former cheerleader looked at her with irritation. “Urgh, seriously? They’ve got you back on the antipsychotics? Did they grind them up and put them in your food this time? Do they even care that I’m the one who’s got to put up with you?”

“They don’t care at all,” she whispered as she lay down on the bunk.

Having been out of her solitary confinement cell for a while now her body temperature had risen considerably, yet she still felt cold. A cold that came from the dark abyss that once again permeated her entire being. Even though she’d only woken up a few hours ago, Shego felt completely exhausted. She shivered and instinctively huddled her arms around herself. The sound of a longsuffering sigh reached her ears, but she ignored it. However, it was quickly followed by the feeling of the blanket, which had been folded at the bottom of the bunk, being draped over her.

As she drifted into unconsciousness, she heard Bonnie utter, “even if you are back to being a total zombie, it’s still better to have you around... I’m glad you’re back,” or maybe it was all in her imagination.

##

The office in which Kim found herself was spacious, generously furnished and above everything, pristine. Like its owner lived by the philosophy of look, don’t touch. Seriously, she wouldn’t be able to get her living room looking this good, even if she cleaned non-stop for an entire week.

“Have a seat, Kim,” Captain Brooks instructed, directing her to a pair of black leather sofas that sat with a low coffee table between them.

Kim sat reluctantly. It felt like everything she did in compliance to the Captain’s wishes was being tallied on a chalkboard against her. Which at present would have read, Brooks:3, Possible: 0. The cool leather felt slightly chilling against her warm body and carried with it more of a sense of foreboding than comfort. While she did not unnerve easily, Captain Brooks was making a damn good attempt at it. _And I get the feeling that this is her being hospitable. Perhaps I’m fortunate she didn’t sit me down in front of her desk, as that probably would have been akin to being sat down in front of Mr Barkin…_

Kim’s thought process trailed off as her gaze took in the coffee table. Its surface made of glass, polished to the point it gleamed and with a set of four metal coasters, each one positioned equidistant from the two sides of the table nearest it. Her eyes then travelled to a nearby bookcase. Each volume had been properly alphabetised and sat perfectly along the edge of its respective shelf; none of them showed any sign of wear. _Has she read any of them, or is she one of those people who can read a book without damaging the spine?_ It was something Kim had never mastered, however, she knew a few people who could; her cousin Larry chief amongst them.

“Would you like red grape or white grape and elderflower?” Captain Brooks then asked from across the room. The woman was stood at a unit that housed an expensive-looking coffee maker on top and a drinks fridge below.

“White grape,” Kim replied and watched the woman withdraw a small glass bottle from the fridge, while she waited for her coffee to brew.

A minute or two later, Captain Brooks set down the premium soft drink; along with a folded paper napkin, on the coaster nearest Kim and a small cup and saucer on the one opposite. From the rich aroma, she could tell that the woman did not skimp out when it came to her coffee. Or indeed on anything if the office was any judge of her character. She Reached out, picked up the soda and unscrewed the cap. After taking a drink, she set the bottle back down on the coaster and deliberately placed the cap on the table; her gaze studying the Captain’s expression for any change. It was subtle, but her action succeeded in causing the woman’s lips to thin ever so slightly. She smiled internally, _heh, Brooks: 3, Possible: 1._

Captain Brooks took a tiny sip of her coffee and set it back down with precision on its saucer before she said, “so, what brings you all the way out to my facility, Kim? I can’t imagine a busy woman such as yourself coming all the way out here, just for a chat with some uncivilised convict.”

Kim was far from the best liar in the world. Indeed, the escapade with the Centurion project having provided irrefutable proof that her body underwent less stress during a mission than when she lied. However, she had carefully thought this one through yesterday, just in case such a situation arose. And she’d already had the chance to practice it on Lieutenant Boyle. “I came to question Shego about some of the technology she recently stole, Claudia,” she replied airily, managing to keep herself perfectly calm.

The woman’s lips thinned even more at Kim’s deliberate use of her first name. It seemed it had done as intended and scored her another point. _No surprises there. Brooks wanted me to use her title and surname, rather than her forename, as she’s trying to exert her dominance over me. God, she’s just like a teacher. Heh, sorry, Claudia, but my school days are long gone._

“Indeed,” Captain Brooks said, her tone already conveying that she found this suspect. “I have it on good authority that everything that belonged to her and Mr Lipsky at Mount St Helens was destroyed inside the volcano.”

It seemed that unlike Lieutenant Boyle, who had simply accepted her justification, the Captain knew to question it. Only Kim was well prepared for such an eventuality. “I can tell you first-hand that it was. However, I have it on good authority that the device in question would not have been used in the construction of Dr Drakken’s lightning ray. Which means it is unaccounted for. Unless Global Justice have managed to take inventory of molten lava?” She phrased the last part as a question, partly to force a concession on the point, but also to gauge how far the Captain would align herself with GJ.

“I doubt even our scientists have figured out a way of retrospectively analysing objects that have fallen into a pool of lava,” Brooks conceded.

 _She said our, meaning that she’s definitely on the GJ payroll. Good to know. And I’m counting that slip up as another point for Possible; 3:3._ “Well, until such a time as they do, I’m stuck with doing things the old-fashioned way. Hence the need for the visit.”

Kim had hoped that would have been enough to end the matter, however, it seemed Brooks still smelled something, as she then asked, “what exactly is it that you’re looking for if you don’t mind me asking?” The sharp nature of the Captain’s tone told her that it didn’t matter if Kim approved or not.

“I’m afraid that’s none of your concern,” she said firmly, attempting to convey the fact that she would not be bullied. “My client has asked that I don’t divulge the details to anyone.” She resisted the urge to add, _“and it’s none of GJ’s damn business,”_ even though the whole thing was a charade.

“How convenient,” Captain Brooks said and took a sip of her coffee. It seemed that no matter what Kim said, the woman would not believe her. Either the Captain had good instincts or was just suspicious of everything.

Before Brooks could continue, Kim cut in, “so, where’s Warden Norton? Didn’t this used to be his office?” recalling the detail from her previous visit.

“Given early retirement,” Brooks replied firmly and with a suggestion that she considered that it had not been early enough. “After the incident two and a half years ago, when Mr Lipsky was allowed to escape, it was decided that he had become unfit to run this facility. Now I do. And bar a single blip while I was on holiday,” Kim watched as the Captain’s knuckles turned pure white around the handle of her coffee cup, “there have been zero escapes.”

 _Great, so she’s judge, jury and executioner. However, given how easily some of the supervillains used to walk out of here, I can see why Betty’s given her almost free reign. Maybe it won’t be so easy for Shego to escape…_ Inside her head, Kim could hear the voice of Ru-Ru repeatedly uttering the word jailbreak. “That’s quite a feat,” she replied, swatting away the naked-mole-shark’s voice. Her tone then took on a somewhat harsh edge that she had not intended, “do you manage that by keeping all your inmates in the same state I saw Shego in?”

A dark fire seemed to strike up behind Captain Brooks grey eyes and she swiftly replied, “I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that the inmates here never set foot beyond the walls of this facility again. However, the convict in question is, as you should know, a special case. I need to use methods beyond those that would be sanctioned for any other inmate to ensure she remains where she belongs.”

Whether it was the injustice of Shego’s situation, the fact she had a lot of respect for her rival, or that she perhaps wanted something more between them, Kim could not say, however, something caused her calm demeanour to crack. “What, so you lock her up in solitary confinement, restrain her like she is a vicious animal and keep her drugged? Isn’t suppressing her glow enough for you?”

A slight curling of the Captain’s lips suggested that she was claiming a point for the semi-outburst. “I would have thought you of all people would have been in support of my methods. After all, if that particular inmate stays where she belongs, you don’t need to deal with her.”

When the woman let her words hang, Kim knew that she was being bated. Unfortunately, her dander was still up after having seen Shego’s present condition. Which meant she could only water her reply down to barking, “it’s inhumane the way you are treating her! How long did you keep her in solitary confinement?”

“Just four days. I went easy on her given her good behaviour in the days prior,” Captain Brooks said, her tone laced with amusement. “However, I think your use of the term inhumane is rather hypocritical. I’m simply keeping one inmate docile so that she is not a danger to her peers or my staff. If you think that’s inhumane, then how would you describe your own actions? Or did I simply imagine my infirmary full of inmates who suffered grievous bodily harm at your hands two weeks ago?”

It was only when she heard the words, did Kim realise that she’d walked directly into the trap. She opened her mouth to respond but had to close it again when she failed to come up with any sort of defence. _Shit, she’s got me cornered on that one. My actions last week were inexcusable. Brooks:5, Possible:3._

Unfortunately, her continued silence allowed Captain Brooks the opportunity to continue. “We might do different jobs, Kim, but deep down, you and I are the same.”

“We are not the same!” Kim fired back hotly, enraged at the insinuation. While she made the claim, she could recall how she had felt two weeks ago how powerful beating down everyone who stood in her way had made her feel. _I know I have a dark side. The night of my junior prom proved that; when I kicked Shego into that electrical tower._ She sighed internally. _In that respect, maybe Brooks is right. However, I choose not to give in to it, to fuel it._ “I made some serious mistakes two weeks ago, that’s all. I don’t enjoy treating people the way you obviously do.”

“You’re still young, Kim. Still entrenched in teenage ideals about black and white, good and evil,” Captain Brooks said, unphased by Kim’s insinuation about her character. “However, you’ll eventually learn that things are not that simple, even more so in this post Lorwardian invasion world. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty if you want to protect the world.”

“There’s dirty and then there’s what you’re doing to Shego,” Kim spat. “She deserves to be treated like a human being!”

“I’ll treat her how I see fit,” Brooks replied, her lips thinning once more. “And there is nothing you can do about it. Although, it does beg the question of why you care so much?”

If there was one thing Kim Possible detested, it was being told that there was something she could not do. Her olive-green eyes locked onto the Captain’s dull greys, her gaze conveying what she knew her words could not, _don’t count on it. I’m the girl who can do **anything!**_ “It doesn’t matter what she’s done, she’s still a human being.” She picked up the soda bottle, drained it and stood up. “Thanks for the soda, but I think it’s time I left.”

The Captain’s gaze remained unmoving, almost as though she knew Kim had just picked up the gauntlet that had, intentionally or not, been thrown down. “I’ll have someone escort you out,” she said, although Kim interpreted this to have meant, _“give me your best shot.”_

A guard was already waiting for her when Kim left the office and wasted no time in escorting her through the facility and back to the Sloth. She might not have known what she intended to do when she left the prison walls in a cloud of dust, however, Kim now knew that she had to and would do something. 

##

Memories flashed all around Shego at lightning speed as she tossed and turned in her sleep. Each and every one pertaining to the same thing, or rather the same person; Kim Possible. One second, she was sitting with the hero inside a bar, listening to her say, _“hey, this is a nice place. If we trash it tonight, they won’t let us back in next time,”_ next, they were standing in the middle of a grassy field, with the girl now asking, _“what would you say if I did?”_ Neither scene lasted for more than a heartbeat, but she saw and recalled the events perfectly.

Now she was fighting Kim inside a large dome and heard the girl ask her, _“once I've finished blowing up Drakken's death-ray, do you want to go out for a drink?”_ The comment came so out of the blue that it caused her to pause and drop her guard, only to receive a side-kick to her abdomen, which sent her tumbling over a railing. Shego fell and landed in a booth inside the same bar as before; a place called Spritzers. Kim sat across from her, a seductive smile on her lips. _“You always knew how to tempt me,”_ she said.

The scene shifted again, this time to a different bar; Heartbeats. Shego sat alone at a table upstairs, looking down upon the fiery-haired vixen as she snogged some random boy. She felt a flash of anger, but it lasted no longer than the memory that had elicited it. Flash forward a matter of minutes and Kim was now lying on the ground in a parking lot; Shego's foot on her throat. Like the anger had transferred between them, the hero spat, _“Fuck… you! I… like… boys!”_

The scene shifted and now she stood on a rooftop, Kim across from her; the girl angrier than she’d ever seen her. _“What the hell would you know about it anyway!”_ Kim barked with venom. On autopilot, Shego replied, _“news flash, Princess, I would know because I happen to be gay.”_ Then, without warning or with any control over the situation, she darted across the girl and planted a soft kiss on her right cheek. A thin smile formed on her face, but the memory vanished as quickly as it had come.

The flashbacks soon reached their endgame, as Shego was treated to lightning-quick snippets of her trading blows with Kim both outside and inside Dr Drakken’s volcano lair. Then it slowed to normal speed; she and her rival facing each other once more. _“You, me, right here, right now,”_ she said, with the girl quickly replying, _“I’m not kissing you!”_ The rest of the verbal exchanges passed by faster than a finger-snap and she found herself stood inches apart from the hero. Her arms automatically wrapped themselves around Kim’s waist and the two came together. Slowly, their lips intertwined; pretty pinks against jet blacks. And a fire of desire erupted inside Shego.

However, that was all she got; one taste. Next thing she knew, Global justice agents had her in chains and were tossing her into the back of a chopper. She got a single glance of Kim, who was stood beside Betty Director, before she crashed onto the cold, hard metal and everything went black.

 _“Kimmie,”_ a voice said from somewhere amidst the darkness. _“The girl has been your rival for five years now.”_

 _“Kimmie,”_ a second disembodied voice added. _“She’s the only one who is any match for you.”_

_“Kimmie. She’s the only one who properly understands you.”_

_“Kimmie. The girl you’ve had the most fun with in the longest time.”_

Shego had no idea where the voices were coming from, how many there were or what they were trying to accomplish. They just continued to spout random stuff about Kimmie; all of which she knew to be true.

_“Kimmie. The girl whose life you’ve saved three times because you can’t stand to see someone else finish her off.”_

_“Kimmie. The girl who led you on and then told you to go fuck yourself.”_

“What the hell do you want?” Shego shouted; almost desperately, her head turning from side to side to try and catch a glimpse of the source of each voice as it spoke its truth.

_“Kimmie. The girl you saw struggling with her sexuality and decided to help.”_

_“Kimmie. The girl who you drove into anger because you saw yourself in her.”_

“Leave me alone!” she yelled, but it fell on deaf ears, assuming the sources of the voices had ears with which to hear her.

_“Kimmie. The girl who you poked and prodded, then deliberately ran away from.”_

A shiver ran down Shego’s spine and she broke into a run through the sea of black that surrounded her. She had to get away, had to escape the continued barrage of memories about Kimmie. _My life does not revolve around her!_ Descending further into the darkness, windows kept popping up in front of her; each displaying a short clip of herself and her rival. She skirted around some, smashed through others; never breaking stride. _I have to get away!_

However, the voices followed her.

_“Kimmie. The girl who chased you across the country to try and exact revenge upon you.”_

_“Kimmie. The girl who you drove to the point she almost tried to kill you.”_

Shego skidded to a stop. Everything around her might have been a sea of black, but she knew she had reached the edge of a chasm of darkness; an abyss. The voices were right behind her.

_“Kimmie. The girl with whom you shared your most passionate moment since Danni.”_

_“Kimmie. The girl who betrayed you to Global Justice and watched as you were dragged off to jail.”_

The two contrasting memories crashed together and blasted Shego over the edge and she plummeted downwards into a deeper darkness. Yet still, she was not free of the voices… of the memories that went with their words.

_“Kimmie. The girl with whom you shared your most passionate moment since Danni.”_

_“Kimmie. The girl who betrayed you to Global Justice and watched as you were dragged off to jail.”_

The two voices repeated their words over and over and over, the speed and volume increasing in equal proportion. And there was nothing Shego could do to escape. She closed her eyes tight, but it did nothing. The words and memories echoed all around her to the point she could barely stand it. Then they changed, striking home at the most recent memory she had.

_“Kimmie. The girl who travelled across the country, just to see you.”_

_“Kimmie. The girl who happily wandered off with Captain Brooks and left you to rot.”_

“Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!” she bellowed in desperation and huddled her knees to chest.

The speed of the voices then increased to the point that she could only hear one thing. _“Kimmie. Kimmie. Kimmie. Kimmie. Kimmie. Kimmie. Kimmie. Kimmie. Kimmie. Kimmie. Kimmie.Kimmie.Kimmie.Kimmie.Kimmie.KimmieKimmieKimmieKimmieKimmieKimmie...”_

“KIMMIE!” Shego yelled as she sat bolt upright, sweat clinging to her forehead and dribbling down the back of her t-shirt.

She looked around and saw that she was back inside her cell. _A dream… just a dream._ Except that dream had contained… something. As she took a moment to centre herself, she could feel the green fire that had ignited inside her. Shego felt… like herself; mind unclouded and warmth slowly spreading through her. She raised a hand and focusing all her energy on it, saw a faint green glow surround her fingertips for a brief moment before it vanished. _Yes!_ she practically yelled internally. For the first time since she had arrived at the prison, she felt properly warm and the hollowness that had permeated her entire being had noticeably receded. It would still take time, but her powers were now starting to regenerate. Except she knew they shouldn’t be. She’d only been in jail for little over a week and it normally took her months to reach this stage. _Have GJ tried to improve their serum and fucked it up?_ She had the thought and quickly rejected it. She knew full well what had triggered the return of her glow… _Kimmie._

Shego rolled over, noticing that she was on the bottom bunk. _Heh, guess Bonnie really wasn’t willing to heave my ass up onto the top bunk. At least she didn’t just leave me on the floor._ She rolled her eyes, _guess I’ll need to thank her come morning._ Still feeling somewhat exhausted, she closed her eyes to go back to sleep, however, not before having the thought, _when I get out of here, you and I need to have a serious conversation. Right, Kimmie?_

##

While not as much as there would have been two weeks ago, there was still some measure of force applied when Kim slammed her apartment door closed behind her. On the sofa, she saw Ru-Ru visibly jump and squeak, “yikes!” as his cheese balls scattered all over the cushion atop which he was perched.

“Are you always eating?” Kim snapped. The moment the words left her mouth she saw the danger signs and stopped in her tracks. She took a deep breath and forced her anger to subside. “Sorry,” she said on the exhale and edged over to the couch and sat down.

The naked-mole-shark hesitantly wandered over to sit beside her. “Rah, rah, rah?” he asked carefully.

“Yeah, got it in one, Ru-Ru,” she replied, taking another calming breath. During her three-hour trip back from the penitentiary, her anger at Captain Brooks, GJ and the sheer injustice of the whole Shego situation had steadily built to the point she’d been tempted to turn the Sloth around, forcibly carve her way through the facility and whisk her rival away. Fortunately, common sense had stayed her hand and kept her on the road back to Middleton.

“Bad day?” Ru-Ru asked. The naked-mole-shark then picked up one of his scattered cheese balls and held it out to her.

Kim looked suspiciously at the offering, “are you trying to bribe me again?”

The creature gave her a cheeky smile and she was unsure if that meant yes or not. “Problem?”

She sighed, “Shego.”

Ru-Ru quickly procured a second cheese ball and held both out to her. “Cheese ball?” he asked.

She let out a light laugh, “now you are definitely trying to bribe me,” however, took the offering anyway and crunched down on them. “Mmmm, I forgot how good these are.” She reached across the sofa and picked up the bag, receiving a sour look from the naked-mole-shark that indicated that he had not been offering her free access to the packet she had paid for. Kim proceeded to eat another handful before saying, “don’t lose your temper, but I went to visit Shego today. “

The sour expression on Ru-Ru’s face quickly morphed into one of rage and it looked like he was struggling not to yell a string of curses at her. _Wow, he really does miss Shego._

“It would have been a long six-hour round trip and for absolutely nothing,” she added hastily. “Shego was in no condition to talk to me.”

Ru-Ru’s beady black eyes met her olive greens as he uttered,” what wrong?”

It was crystal clear to Kim that saying the wrong thing here would cause the naked-mole-shark to burst into a fit of rage. Unfortunately, the truth happened to fall into that category. “They had her restrained like she was some wild animal and dopped up on something that made her completely vacant. Like her body was there, but everything that is Shego had been sucked out.”

The memory of how Shego had appeared, trussed up in heavy restraints, head drooped, hair tousled and that look in her eyes like black holes in the sky, filled Kim’s mind. Meanwhile, Ru-Ru began hopping up and down in a fit of rage; uttering a barrage of curses, some of which she could discern and others she was glad she couldn’t. After a few moments, she met his gaze and he madly squeaked, “jailbreak, jailbreak, jailbreak, jailbreak!”

Kim let out the sigh of someone torn in two, “Ru-Ru, we’ve been over this, I…”

The naked-mole-shark looked at her pointedly, “jailbreak!”

“It’s not that simple,” she protested. “I’m a hero. I **send** supervillains to jail, not break them out. If I got caught, not only would my career be over, but I’d probably find myself as her new roommate.” She paused for a moment, before adding, “maybe I could talk to Betty instead. Get her to force Captain Brooks to treat her like a human being.” No sooner had the words left her lips did her mind say, _that’ll never work, not after my last conversation with her. Maybe if we were still on good terms, she’d listen to me. However, now she’d demand a pound of flesh… and there is no way I’m joining GJ. Besides, asking Betty to get Brooks to go easy on Shego would only serve to raise questions that I certainly don’t want to answer._

Ru-Ru helpfully summed up her entire thought process in two words, “GJ bastards!”

Kim gave him a look that said, _“I thought I told you to drop the potty mouth,”_ however, replied, “yeah, trying to appeal to Betty’s good nature is just asking for trouble. What are my other options?”

“Jailbreak, jailbreak, jailbreak!”

“Apart from that.” She wracked her brain for another solution. _Maybe I can get a human rights lawyer, have them take GJ to court over how she’s being treated?_ She let out a deflated sigh at that idea. _Even if I found someone willing to take on the case, it could take months before I even got a hearing on the matter. And I’ll bet GJ would have the courts in their pocket. In this climate, the justice system probably thinks Captain Brooks isn’t being tough enough on the supervillains._ “Ok, so going through legal channels is probably a non-starter,” she said out loud.

“Uh-hu, uh-hu,” Ru-Ru agreed with an emphatic nod of his head. “Lawyers useless.”

“Ok, so what does that leave me with?” It took her a moment to come up with option D; human rights activist groups. Unfortunately, she quickly saw the flaws with that one too. _Ultimately, going through a human rights organisation would just end up with a court case._ She let out another long sigh. T _he success of those groups is widely dependant on public opinion putting pressure on the establishment. And no one cares one iota about supervillains, what with all the take over the world schemes. I’d struggle to even get it off the ground and even if I did, hit the same problem in the courts._

She could sit here all day and ponder this, but in the end, come back to the same conclusion; this was down to her. Only she could do something about what GJ was doing to Shego. And in that respect, she only had two options; one of which she’d already vehemently rejected. “What GJ is doing to Shego is unjust, inhumane and completely wrong. She might be a supervillain, but she doesn’t deserve to be treated like that,” she said, trying to reaffirm her justification.

The naked-mole-shark’s eyes lit up and he began to gleefully rub his paws together.

Kim met Ru-Ru’s beady black gaze and sighed, “looks like you’re getting your wish, Ru-Ru… it took Kim several moments before she was able to finish. She was a renowned world hero who, apart from the occasional underage drinking, lived by the law. Yet here she was, about to declare her intention to do something very illegal. Was it to fight against injustice? Out of respect for her rival? A need to talk to her? Or something more? Kim did not know which. Nevertheless, she found herself uttering words that as little as one week ago, she would never have imagined saying, “I’m going to break Shego out of jail.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, ok, let's just take a moment to catch our breaths before we digest what just happened... right, everyone good to go? Let's proceed.
> 
> As I said at the start, this chapter was a ba***rd to write and took me the best part of two and a bit weeks. I think I struggled in some way with every scene and a points hated everything about it, however, I really like how it turned out in the end. And while there were a lot of good moments, Kim vs Brooks springs to mind, it was those final two scenes that I enjoyed the most. To finally get to write Shego with her glow, even if it was only for a few seconds, was such a great moment for me, especially with the false dawn back in chapter six. And then to finish the chapter off with finally getting Kim to the point she manages to justify breaking Shego out of jail to herself, felt like such a relief. While I still stand by my decision to send Shego to jail in the first place and the effects it will have on the story in the long run, actually writing this segment with her incarcerated was not what I set out to write way back at the very beginning of this story. Hence, I am extremely happy that I can now see the end of this segment in sight and hopefully, we can soon get back to some proper KiGo stuff.
> 
> In terms of the next update, I should be ready to post it in the next two weeks, so don't worry about me making you all wait for three, given you got this update early, I'm not that cruel, lol ;p. So, until then, thank you all once again for your support and I look forward to hearing what you all thought about this chapter in the comments. 
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


	52. S210 (U4): I can read your mind like a magazine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, ok, here we are again, another update to And You And I. 
> 
> First, an apology is in order from myself for two things. One, this update is a day late and two, it's only a single chapter. By the time I finished editing this chapter last night it was 4am and I was too tired to post it, hence why it's late. And the reason it is only a single chapter is twofold. First, I went to re-play a little bit of the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot and have subsequently finished both it and Rise of the Tomb Raider 100% and started Shadow of the Tomb Raider, so I've not written a damn thing this past week (yeah, I know, my bad, lol). However, the main reason is that the actual content of this chapter has wound up getting orphaned from where it was originally supposed to sit in the story. While I came up with a lot of different things I wanted to incorporate on Shego's side of the story at the start of season two, I didn't really have much structure or cohesion for them when I actually started writing. Hence, why I found myself at a point of no return when I came to write this chapter, given what has happened on Kim's side of the story (Jailbreak, Jailbreak!) Which also means, as you have probably figured out by now, that this chapter is not the Jailbreak chapter you've all been patiently waiting for (yeah, I know, my bad on that one too, lol). However, as I really wanted to include the events of this chapter, it has to be now.
> 
> Anyway, for this chapter, the title: I can read your mind like a magazine, is a lyric from the Hawkwind song Psi Power, taken from their 1978 album 25 years on (released under the name Hawklords because of legal issues). The reason, you'll soon find out. 
> 
> Finally, I need to say another massive thank you to you all. Since I last updated, this story has surpassed both the 10,000 hit and the 100 subscriber marks. So, thank you all so much for your continued investment in this story. I hope you enjoy this small update and I'll see you at the end.

Normality. A strange notion and one that Shego despised. The thought that she might ever be considered ‘normal’ felt abhorrent to her. She’d been eight the last time that term could ever have been applied to her; before the Team Go comet crashed into the family treehouse and permanently altered her physiology. And she had endured all the shit the world had been able to throw at her because of her green skin and tendency to set things on fire, to the point that she had embraced her weirdness a long, long time ago. She applied this same principle to other people too. Normal people tended to bore her, thus she had little time for them. So, for her to wake up and be thankful that she felt normal was a strange thing indeed.

Shego opened her eyes when the claxon sounded to signal the start of the prison day. Her gaze travelled around the drab cell and even though everything in sight was grey, it felt like it was bursting with colour, such was the stark difference in how she saw it in comparison to yesterday. _Wow, I never knew grey could look this good._ Her mind quickly recalled what had happened when she’d woken during the night and a thin smile formed on her lips, _however, I think I prefer green._ Focusing all her energy on her right hand, which was still concealed from all but her view by her blanket, she watched a green glow surround it for a few seconds before it faded. _Hello, old friend. We’ve got a lot of work to do if we’re going to get out of here… if I’m going to see Kimmie._ She knew it was risky, that if she got caught using her glow she would probably find herself subjected to another dose of the GJ serum, however, the more she used it, the quicker it would regenerate to a level that would allow her to escape… to see Kimmie.

“Urgh, don’t tell me you’re still all zombified.”

Shego heard the voice of Bonnie and looked up to see her cellmate staring at her. A sassy smile formed on her lips. “Given that the grey mush they fed me while in the hole looked like stewed brains, can you blame me?”

If she’d not had her emerald green gaze zeroed in on the former cheerleader, she probably would have missed the faint smile that formed on the girl’s lips before she replied, “I swear when I get out of here, I’m going to eat so much Bueno Nacho.” Bonnie then sighed, “I could murder a chimmerito right about now.”

“For breakfast?” she asked, before letting out a light laugh. “I know the feeling all too well. It’s the little things you miss the most when you’re stuck in this hell-hole.”

An expression of longing formed on her cellmate’s face, “yeah...”

From outside, the sound of Lieutenant Boyle barking, “roll-call!” cut Bonnie off.

The pair exchanged glances. “We’d better go or Brooks’ will probably toss us both in the hole,” Shego said.

That prospect seemed to frighten Bonnie somewhat. “I don’t want to end up like you were yesterday,” she said, her voice quivering slightly.

“Then let’s go.”

##

The prison morning passed by in much the same manner as every other, Captain Brooks having the routine timed to the minute. After breakfast, Shego had returned to her cell and plonked herself down on the top bunk. That was when she had first sneezed. And while she had tried to brush it off as a one-time thing, her body had quickly reported that her luck had finally run out. After being hosed down with icy cold water by Captain Brooks during her processing, she had been convinced she would have come down with a cold, such was the level to which her body temperature had dropped. Miraculously she had dodged that particular bullet. However, after four days in the freezing cold of the hole, said cold had finally caught up with her. Head feeling stuffy and her body temperature fluctuating, she’d grabbed a large wad of toilet paper and proceeded to blow into it every couple of minutes. She’d then settled down with a book.

In her left hand Shego held a copy of A storm of swords; the third Song of ice and fire novel. She’d read the first two during her previous stint in jail, however, never got around to picking up the third after she’d escaped. _I really do need to find time to read something other than magazines when I’m on the outside. I wonder if Kimmie has read these..._ she caught herself having the thought about her rival and quickly buried it. Any time she started to think about the fiery-haired vixen her mind ended up at war with itself, which proved to be very counterproductive. She needed to concentrate and not on her book.

Awkwardly, Shego turned the page with one hand, made more difficult due to the damn size of the book. Her right hand remained hidden underneath her blanket. For the past two hours, she’d been igniting her glow, holding it for as long as she could before it faded, only to repeat the process the moment she had the energy. So far, she’d increased the active time from about five seconds to fifteen. While it might not seem like much, given that she could normally have her glow active indefinitely if she chose to, she knew it was just the start of a long process that would take weeks. Indeed, today she was thankful at just being able to feel it again, like she was starting to become whole again.

“Yo, Shego.”

Shego looked over the top of her book and watched Bonnie saunter into the cell. Immediately, she extinguished her glow. The last thing she needed was for someone to see it, as they would immediately become either an information casualty or potential blackmailer. And in Bonnie’s case, the girl could easily become both. “Yeah?” she replied. _So much for being left alone to work on my glow and read my book._

“FYI, you’re probably going to have to beat up a couple of skinheads later,” Bonnie said, an air of amusement about her tone, probably at the fate she hoped awaited the latest individuals to pick on her.

She rolled her eyes, but the effect was lost by the need to blow her nose. “Seriously? This is my first full day back in the block and already you need me to beat people up,” she said, her voice muffled by a wad of toilet paper. “What happened this time?”

The former cheerleader shrugged. “They were in my way, so I barged past them and told them they looked like a cue-ball and an eight-ball.”

Shego slammed her book down atop the mattress and looked incredulously at the girl, “what the hell were you thinking?”

“What?” Bonnie asked, her tone clearly suggesting she did not see a problem. “They need to learn not to get in my way and you get to beat some guys up. Win-win.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head, “urgh, you are such an idiot.”

“What?”

“First, I just did four days in the hole for beating Morgan up. If Brooks or one of her flunkies catches me laying a finger on another inmate, I go straight back in,” she began, her voice taking on the same derisive tone she used when pointing out the flaws in one of Drakken’s stupider plans. “Second, I don’t enjoy beating up random people who can barely defend themselves against me. Third, I’m not your personal thug for hire. I said I’d protect you, not go about beating the shit out of people who you deliberately antagonise. And forth, I feel like crap and am in no mood to beat people up.”

“They were in my way and refused to move,” Bonnie quickly countered, before adding, “are you sick?”

“Yes,” Shego answered and blew her nose by way of demonstration. “However, that’s beside the point. You should have gone elsewhere. Just because you’ve got me in your corner, doesn’t mean you get to saunter around the place like you own it. I thought you were beginning to learn that before Brooks tossed me in the hole.”

“What, so you expect me to sit and play board games with the three stooges?”

Shego did not need her cellmate to clarify that she was referring to Drakken, Dementor and Lucre. “If it keeps you out of trouble, then yes. Or try picking up a book,” she held up her copy of A storm of swords, feeling like she needed to show the girl what a book was. A memory from her time as Miss Go telling her that the girl didn’t do books.

Bonnie wrinkled her nose, like the suggestion she read offended her. “What do you think I’ve been doing while you’ve been gone? I spent so much time reading books that I actually finished one!”

“Well, when you put it like that, we wouldn’t want you finishing another,” Shego said with as much sarcasm as she could muster. “You might actually learn something.” She was then thankful for Bonnie’s rebuttal, as she caught herself thinking, _thank god Kimmie isn’t this uncultured…_

“Prft, yeah, whatever,” the former cheerleader said offhandedly. “Anyway, what are you doing holed up in here? I would have thought after being in solitary confinement for days, you’d want to get some air. Besides, you don’t seem like the book sort of person either.”

“I just told you, I’m sick. You try doing four days in the icebox Brooks put me in without catching a cold,” Shego replied. “Not to mention when your choice of companions is limited to Drakken, Dementor and Lucre, you’d want some quiet time now and again too; especially when you’re ill.” While not the truth, neither was it a lie. On their own, one of the above became grating after fifteen minutes, taking them all together; a common occurrence when in prison, could easily be classed as a form of torture. “Besides, I actually like to read.”

“What about me?” Bonnie retorted, her tone reminiscent of the high school Queen B whom everyone should perpetually beg to hang out with. “Don’t tell me you’re grouping me with that lot!”

Unintentionally, the girl had just demonstrated why Shego would want time away from her too. _Urgh, I hated that high school attitude when I was there. I shouldn’t have to put up with it now. At least Kimmie had the decency to grow up a bit over the past couple of years._ She hurriedly shoved that thought into the hole with the previous two she’d had about her rival. _Why the hell am I thinking about her so much?_ Before she’d even managed to properly ask herself the question, the answer made itself known. _Doy, because I’ve got some serious unfinished business with her._ She shook her head and returned her attention to Bonnie. “You’re a different type of annoying, Cupcake.”

A scowl formed on her cellmates face, “what? I’m like totally the most normal person in this madhouse. You should be thankful that I’m even willing to hang out with you, especially given how zombified you’ve been since you got here.”

“Your normality is what can make you exceptionally boring.” Shego smiled at the look of infuriation that spread across Bonnie’s face. However, before the girl could respond, she added, _“_ Drakken might annoy the hell out of me, but at least he provides me with plenty of entertainment. I wouldn’t get a fraction of the opportunities for sarcasm or funny moments with you.”

“What, so you just hang out with him so you can laugh at him?” Bonnie said, sounding indignant on Drakken’s behalf.

“Pretty much,” Shego replied absentmindedly and picked up her book, electing not to go into the details of her ‘weird’ relationship with Dr Drakken.

“That’s shallow, even for a supervillain,” the former cheerleader snorted.

She laughed, “like you’ve never done the exact same thing.”

“Of course I haven’t...” Shego stopped the girl mid-sentence with a piercing stare from her brilliant emerald eyes. There was a brief moment of silence before Bonnie then uttered, “what the hell would you know about it anyway? You don’t know me.”

Shego watched the girl turn on her heal and motion to storm out of the cell. “Let me see, a girl whose older siblings accomplished everything at every level and to such a high standard that everyone always compared her to one of them, no matter how old she was or what she did.”

Her words caused Bonnie to stop dead in her tracks. By the time the girl had turned back to face her, Shego had already begun to continue, “a girl whose siblings delighted in lauding their superiority over her, to the point that they caused her to develop an inferiority complex. That, in turn, has resulted in her feeling a need to be better than everyone else around her and to actively tear down anyone who might threaten her precarious position at the top of the metaphorical food chain.”

Bonnie simply stared at her, teal eyes wide and mouth agape in horror. “I... do... not...” she finally stammered.”

Shego smirked at the girl. “You want proof? How about your relationship with Kimmie? You’ve hated her ever since you first laid eyes on her and all because she’s one of those people who are just naturally brilliant at everything she tries her hand at…. well, almost everything.”

Bonnie finally found her voice and fired back, “you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re just some two-bit sidekick!”

“Wow, with insults so cutting I might need to fetch a band-aid,” Shego mocked, her tone brimming with sassy sarcasm, unfortunately, the effect was ruined by a sneeze that required some serious tissue work to contain the contents of. When she could finally take a breath without snot dripping from her nostrils, she continued, “however, if you want to go down that road, be my guest. But be warned, Bonnie Rockwaller, I know a hell of a lot more about you than you do about me.”

“As if,” Bonnie snorted. “This is the first day you’ve woken up and not been somewhat zombified. How can you possibly know anything about me?”

“Well,” Shego began with a knowing smile, “I’ve seen you a couple of times when I’ve been duking it out with Kimmie,” she paused to wipe her nose before then adding, “I suppose I might also have picked up a few things during the week I spent teaching at Middleton High.”

“What?” Bonnie said incredulously. “You, a teacher? Do you think I’m stupid enough to believe that?”

Shego’s smile widened, almost becoming a wolfish grin. “It’s true. Picture me wearing a brown skirt, short grey jacket, teal turtleneck and with a matching headband in my hair.”

Bonnie let out a snort of derision, as though the exercise was completely pointless, rolled her eyes and then stared at Shego. It took a couple of moments, possibly due to the girl’s lack of imagination, however, her jaw eventually dropped. “You were that supply teacher in senior year, Miss Go, or whatever it was you called yourself!”

“Bingo.”

“How on earth did I not see that days ago?”

“It’s all to do with perception, Cupcake,” Shego answered in amusement. “You knew that I’m a supervillain, therefore that’s all you saw. Your mind never even contemplated that I could be anything other.”

The girl looked half stunned, half outraged at this insinuation. And she quickly hit back with, “why on earth would a supervillain go and teach in a high school for a week? In fact, how is that even possible? Don’t they check your qualifications and stuff like that?”

“Well, as a supervillain, I could easily have forged that sort of thing and gone in incognito, probably as part of some nefarious scheme to take over the world…”

Bonnie scoffed at that remark, “what, by brainwashing the students to do your bidding?”

“Drakken’s had far more ridiculous take over the world plans than that,” Shego interjected. “However, that’s beside the point. In this instance, my brain got messed up and so I took the job because my degree is in child development.”

“Wait a minute, **you** have a college degree?” Bonnie quickly shook her head and laughed, “ok, ha-ha, very funny. Now I know you’re just trying to yank my chain.”

Shego met her gaze and said firmly, “it’s true. I have a college degree.”

“Seriously? You have got to be kidding me. How and why would a supervillain bother to get a college degree, and in child development of all things?”

“It’s a long story and not one I intend on sharing,” she replied, her tone indicating that there would be no further discussion on the point. “However, you’ll find a lot of the supervillains had a life before they became villains. For example, Dementor was a professor of spatial physics back in Germany, Drakken was studying for a robotics degree before he dropped out and Motor Ed,” she rolled her eyes, finding this one difficult to believe herself, “is one of the country’s best mechanical engineers.”

Bonnie shook her head. “Ok, you guys just get weirder by the day. I suppose that Frugal Lucre guy has a degree in economics and was unfairly beaten to the banker of the year award, thus twisting him and turning him into a supervillain.”

Shego burst out laughing. “No, he’s just an ex-Smarty Mart worker with delusions of being a supervillain. Anyway, my point was, I know a lot more about you than you think.”

“Prft, you just spouted some random shrink crap,” Bonnie retorted.

“Well, child development is just a concise way of saying child psychology with a focus on education, hence why I’m a teacher.” She let out a light laugh, “you know it’s quite funny…”

“What is?”

“…I’m actually quite a good teacher.” Shego laughed again, “I even managed to turn Junior into a decent supervillain before Senior fired me for monopolising his time with proper villain stuff, rather than crap such as practising evil laughs.”

“Urgh, he’s still obsessed with crap like that,” Bonnie said in disgust. “And he’s so hung up on the traditions of villainy. Like this one time, he totally could have finished Kim off, but no, he had to leave her in a complicated death trap with a chance for her to escape, which she proceeded to do and then foiled his plan.”

Shego gave her a grin. “That’s why they’re the main villain and we’re the sidekicks.”

“Why, because they get the flair for the dramatic and we get the common sense?” Bonnie asked, actually managing to crack a smile of her own.

“We also get the sass and sarcasm too.”

The former cheerleader then rolled her eyes. “There’s a point lurking amongst all this rubbish, isn’t there?”

“I thought you might like to talk,” she replied.

“That’s it? You thought I might like to talk?” Bonnie scoffed. “Bullshit.”

Shego gave her a piercing stare. “Fine, what I really mean is that we’re going to sit down and you’re going to talk, so I can guide you, kicking and screaming if needs be, to an epiphany about why you do stupid things. Such as calling a pair of mean-looking skinheads cue-ball and eight-ball.”

Her cellmate snorted, “and if I tell you to fuck off, then leave?”

“Then I leave you to deal with cue-ball and eight-ball by yourself,” Shego replied smoothly. “So, think very carefully before you walk out that door.”

Infuriation spread across Bonnie’s face as she stood for a moment to contemplate a situation entirely of her own making. Eventually, she let out a low growl and sat down on the bottom bunk.

“Good girl,” Shego said and sat her book down again. “Choosing to talk about your issues is the first step towards dealing with them.”

“My only issue is that you’re being difficult,” Bonnie spat.

She laughed lightly, “why don’t you start by talking about your sisters?”

“I am so not doing this,” the former cheerleader quickly spat and a moment later she was back on her feet.

“Yes, you are, or you might as well just go out into the yard and give yourself over to cue-ball and eight-ball for a beating,” Shego said, her tone conveying that there would be no wiggle room on the matter.

She watched the girl pause, before sitting herself back down, her mere movements managing to convey her disgust at the situation. “Fine. What do you want me to say? That they’re total bitches who never missed an opportunity to ridicule me?”

The biting tone the girl had used told Shego immediately that she had struck a nerve and that the words had more spilt out of Bonnie than been said by choice. “If that’s how you feel about them, then yes.” In the moment of silence that followed, Shego had the thought, _why the hell am I even doing this? It would be so much easier to just beat the crap out of cue-ball and eight-ball._ She then promptly sneezed and had to wipe away the snot that began to leak out her nose on her wad of toilet paper. _Ok, case and point. I feel like crap and really don’t want to end up back in the hole. Besides isn’t there a proverb about giving a man a fish or teaching him how to fish?_

From the lower bunk, Bonnie then continued, “they never cut me any slack, ever. They made me feel like the only reason for my existence was to keep them amused.” The girl’s voice began to quiver and Shego could hear the anguish in it. “I was their younger sister, yet they never looked out for me or congratulated me on any of my achievements. It was always about them and how they’d already done everything better than I ever could. You know, they always used to say that Connie got all the brain and Lonnie all the looks…”

“And you got whatever crap was left,” Shego finished for her. It seemed she had chosen the perfect topic to get the girl talking. As she’d expected, the former cheerleader had a lot of suppressed anger towards her siblings and had just been offered an outlet for it. “You know it’s not true, right?”

“Of course I do,” Bonnie replied, however, her shaky tone betrayed the fact that the girl did not quite believe her own words.

“They used to trick you a lot when you were a kid, didn’t they?” Shego then said. While she phrased it as a question, she already knew the answer. During her time as Miss Go, she’d taken the time to profile Bonnie, given that she was a consistent problem for Kim. Indeed, had she not been changed back to Shego, she probably would have attempted to reconcile the pair… eventually.

“Yeah and I was so stupid back then that I fell for it every time.”

“It’s not stupidity to want your family to genuinely care for you,” she said in a soothing tone, or as soothing a tone as one could with their nose clogged up with snot.

Bonnie it seemed was not in the mood to be placated, “what the hell would you know about it?”

“I’m the middle child and the only girl out of five,” Shego replied, her tone again trying to calm her cellmate. “And I know what it’s like to have older siblings who are either too obsessed with themselves or with their black and white ideals to care about you or the fact you’ve got a lot of shit going on out with them.”

Sharing this small piece of information seemed to be enough to settle Bonnie down a little and establish more of a rapport between them, for the girl redirected her anger back to the subject of her sisters. “I never did anything to them, yet all they ever did was bully me. Apparently, being born was enough to permanently irk them.”

“Older siblings, especially middle children, sometimes get jealous of younger ones as all of the attention they got can often get swallowed up by a new-born,” Shego said.

“That’s not my fault!” Bonnie yelled. “I never asked to be born.”

Acting predominantly on instinct, Shego climbed down from her bunk and sat at the foot of her cellmates. “I never said it was your fault,” she replied, meeting the girl’s gaze with a kind one that was far more the property of Miss Go than Shego. “Unfortunately, it happens all the time. Parents and other family members lavish attention upon a new-born and forget about the other kids in the family. And those kids don’t yet have the capacity to figure out that it isn’t the baby’s fault.”

“So what? My sisters are bitches to me because they think I stole mom and dad’s attention from them?”

“It’s a distinct possibility that’s how it started,” Shego agreed. “Maybe they continued to hold that grudge against you, or perhaps they simply enjoyed bullying you too much to stop. However, we’re not here to talk about them. This is all about you.” As expected, her last line subconsciously struck a chord with her cellmate and she watched the girl smile slightly. _Guess I’ve not lost my touch._ “Why don’t we move onto school. You were happier there than at home, weren’t you?”

“Do you know how totally fucked up that is?” Bonnie snapped, although it was clear that she agreed with Shego’s assertion. “For a kid to actually be happier at school than at home?”

“That’s because, despite what your sisters said, you were genuinely good at things and people wanted to be friends with you,” she replied.

A slightly stunned expression formed on the former cheerleader’s face, one which clearly read, _‘how on earth can you know so much about me?’_ Nevertheless, she replied, “hey, I worked damn hard to make myself popular. I didn’t just have friends fall into my lap.”

“I never said that it was easy, just that people did want to be your friend,” she paused and focused her piercing gaze on the girl’s teal eyes, “however, it wasn’t just about working hard in a positive way, was it?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Because of your sisters, you learned earlier than most, that people aren’t always nice and that despite how much we preach about equality, society still operates on a pyramid structure.”

“So?” Bonnie grunted.

“So, you realised that there is only room for one person at the very top of the pyramid. And you were determined that it would be you, all because your sisters had kept you at the very bottom at home. However, when it became apparent that there was someone genuinely better than you at almost everything and that no amount of hard work would change that, you started using all the nasty tricks your sisters had used on you on other people. Preying on the weak to make yourself look strong.” Shego intensified her stare as she said, “the victim became the bully.”

Bonnie, whose complexion had paled with each and every word Shego had spoken, to the point she now looked the colour of milk, could only stammer, “I… didn’t… mean… to… be… like… them…”

“No, that’s probably the last thing you wanted to be,” Shego agreed, seeing that the girl was genuinely close to tears. She turned away to sneeze and wipe her nose before continuing, “unfortunately, you realised how much easier it is to bully and belittle others to try and keep yourself on top, rather than work hard. To the point it simply became second nature. Although that’s not the ironic thing…”

Bonnie simply sat there, shellshocked at having her own psyche sliced up and served to her.

“…the ironic thing is, that despite what you might have thought, Kimmie never wanted your friends or your popularity. Even though she had all the attributes of a fellow lioness who had the potential to take over the pride.”

“She was just so infuriatingly good at almost everything…” Bonnie whispered.

“Yeah, she is,” Shego agreed. “Only you failed to realise that, while the two of you shared some interests, cheerleading being chief amongst them, she wasn’t a threat to you. She just wanted to do her own thing. And despite how you might have perceived things, you were the one that threw the first metaphorical punch in that fight, just like your sisters would have.”

“I hate them so much!” Bonnie wailed.

“I know,” Shego said softly. “They bullied and belittled you so much that they coloured your view of the world, to the point that you need to always be the one at the top of the pyramid, otherwise you feel like you’re still underneath their boots. Which is why you go around treating everyone like they’re beneath you. And in here, after the culture shock of your first few days and me getting thrown in the hole, you’re desperate to get off the bottom of the pyramid. Which is why you’re back to acting like an idiot and all because I told you no one will touch you if hang around with me.”

The second she finished, she let out a rather violent series of sneezes and had to grab a fresh wad of toilet paper to stem the flow of snot. It had only been a couple of hours but already her nostrils felt green-raw from the constant rubbing with the coarse paper. _My kingdom for some balm tissues._

“So what? Am I just supposed to pretend like I don’t hear my sisters laughing at me every time someone puts me down?” Bonnie spat then quickly shut up.

 _Shit, does she have an actual psychosis?_ Shego stared into Bonnie’s teal eyes, “do you genuinely hear them laughing at you?”

“Of course not!” the former cheerleader replied, sounding offended. “What do you think I am, some nutcase?”

“No.”

Bonnie absentmindedly began to rub her upper right arm. “It used to feel like that was what was happening,” she then said slowly. “At least when I was younger. As I got older, I found myself in that sort of position less and less. However, by my third day in here, when I said something to someone and they punched me, I’d never felt that vulnerable since I was a child and my sisters were shoving me into the dirt or one of the other horrible things they did to me. I thought I was going to get killed for a moment before the guards intervened…”

“It sucks to feel powerless, especially if you’ve got a truckload of bad memories that weigh on you whenever it happens,” Shego agreed. “And the moment you feel like you have control again, you can’t help but flaunt it.”

The former cheerleader nodded. “It did feel good to be able to wander through the yard, knowing that all I needed to do was drop your name and no one would lay a finger on me.” Bonnie then rolled her eyes, “urgh, ok, I get it. I let the feeling of having some measure of power go to my head. There, are you happy?”

Shego started to laugh, but it transitioned into a sneeze and it took her a few moments of nose maintenance before she could reply, “it’s a start. However, now you have to do something that I doubt you’ve ever done before.”

“What?” Bonnie asked, her tone wary and derisive in equal measure.

“Apologise to someone.”

“What!” the girl yelled incredulously. “No way. I’m not apologising to some stupid skinheads!”

Shego gave her a pointed look. “Yes, you are, as it’s the only way this problem is going to go away.”

“And what if they beat me up?”

“Then you take your medicine and learn from the experience.” Shego let her words hang for a moment and watched the horror spread across the girl’s face, before adding, “however, given that I’ll be with you, I doubt that’s going to happen. Although, you still need to learn that treating people like they are beneath you can sometimes come back to bite you on the ass. Who knows, maybe being stuck in here might do you some good. It might help you realise that you don’t always need to be on top of the pyramid.”

A sour expression formed on Bonnie’s face as she said, “fine, but don’t expect me to stop treating idiots with the contempt they deserve.”

“I’ll allow you sass and sarcasm, but be careful who you use it on,” Shego said with a smile. “With great wit comes the need for a little restraint, or some crap like that.”

“Urgh, why do I get the feeling you enjoyed this?”

Shego’s smile faded slightly as Bonnie’s words unintentionally dragged up some old memories of her in a classroom. “I actually liked teaching,” she uttered more to herself than to her cellmate. She promptly sneezed and the moment was gone. After wiping her now green-raw nose, she said, “then let’s get this over with, before all I can do is shoot snot balls at people.” She stood up and offered Bonnie her hand.

“Eww, I am so not touching you while you’re all plague-ridden,” the former cheerleader said, as she got to her feet by herself.

Shego turned and headed for the cell door, however, before she stepped out into the grey corridor, Bonnie called out after her, “hey, I almost forgot, this came for you while you were in the hole.”

She turned and saw the envelope the girl held out to her. Like it was an unexploded bomb, Shego gingerly reached out a hand and took the letter from Bonnie. It felt slightly weighty in her hand, although she knew it contained nothing other than paper. On the front was the name Shego and the address of the prison; both printed. _Why does she keep doing this?_ she thought before she had even opened it, already knowing what she would find. Ripping open the generic white post office envelope, she withdrew a second one; made of a heavy cream parchment. On its front, written with a black ink fountain pen and in neat calligraphy, was a single word; her name, yet it did not say Shego.

Shego simply stared at the letter and the name written upon it. While she recognised the handwriting, she hadn’t needed to. Every time since her first proper stint in jail, she received a single letter within the first two weeks of her incarceration, always written in the same hand and on the same heavy parchment. The thought from moments prior repeated itself inside her mind, _why does she keep doing this? I don’t care what she thinks about me._

_“Are you so sure about that?”_

Shego froze upon hearing the voice of Miss Go inside her mind. Given that she’d not been herself until today, she had been spared the internal conflict that her devil’s advocate so often brought about.

_Ye…_

“Who’s it from?” Bonnie asked nosily.

The sound of her cellmate’s voice stopped Shego from devolving into a full-on internal argument. She looked up at the girl. “No one of importance,” she said quickly and stuffed the parchment envelope back inside the white one. Moving to her footlocker, she opened it and stuffed the letter underneath everything else. “Now, let’s go and find those skinheads so you can apologise.

“Urgh, I agree with Dr Drakken. I think you are better when you’re a zombie,” Bonnie replied.

Shego led the girl out of the cell and into the drab corridors of cellblock D. However, while the bulk of her mind was focused on teaching Bonnie a lesson she sorely needed, part of it could not stop thinking about the latest letter that had been stuffed to the bottom of a prison footlocker. _I don’t care what she thinks about me._

Unfortunately, she could not stop the voice of Miss Go again whispering, _“are you so sure about that?”_

It seemed that she now had something else to argue with herself over. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so what did you all think?
> 
> Uncharacteristically, I was actually a little unsure about this chapter, even after I editied it. However, I wanted to both elaborate on the insinuation given in the show regarding Bonnie's sisters and how they treat her and highlight the fact that Shego (not just Miss Go) is capable of solving problems without resorting to beating someone up and that she has a more compasionate side. I also had not managed to work in the part where Shego received the letter into one of the previous chapters and needed to do so before Kimmie breaks her out.
> 
> Which bings me to the next update and the moment we've all been waiting for since the end of last season, the Jailbreak. Unfortunately, I'm not going to say anything more than to confirm that it will be in the next update, so you'll all just have to wait ;p. However, given that I only gave you one chapter this week, I'll see if I am ready to post it next week, rather than in two weeks time. Until then, thanks for putting up with me while I indulged myself yet again (although to be fair to myself, this is the first time this season that I've done so) and I'll hopefully see you all next week. 
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


	53. S211 (U5): Jailbreak, Jailbreak, Jailbreak!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone, I hope you are all well (I am not atm, lol). So, here it is, at long last, the jailbreak chapter. Again, it is only a single chapter update. I honestly did not plan on doing three single chapter updates in a row, it just sort of happened and I promise that I'll get back to two-plus chapters come next update. I'd like to explain how I decided on what must seem like a completely random number of chapters for each update, however, I suspect you are all anxious to get to the actual chapter, so I'll leave that for another time.
> 
> Congratulations to Mortisvenom, who correctly predicted that the title for this chapter; Jailbreak, Jailbreak, Jailbreak! would be a reference to the ACDC song Jailbreak. Of course, it is also a reference to Ru-Ru, who started yelling that particular phrase at Kim back in chapter nine.
> 
> Thank you all for your support and I hope you all enjoy this long-awaited scene. So, without any further delay, I give you chapter eleven: Jailbreak, Jailbreak, Jailbreak!

_Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!_

Kim Possible had never felt more uneasy or unsure when pulling on her battle suit; ever. Not even the very first time, when Dr Drakken had actually pulled off a serious take over the world plot with his Lil’ Diablos. She zipped up the front of the suit, followed by her boots and then strapped the blue gadget belt around her waist.

_Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck. I can’t do this. I’m a hero. I put supervillains in jail, not break them out._

Her hand quivered as her fingers refused to leave the belt clasp and her gaze met with that of Ru-Ru. The naked-mole-shark was perched atop her desk, dressed in a black ninja Gi. She’d got quite the surprise when the custom order from HenchCo had arrived that afternoon. When she had quizzed him about it, giving him the whole hands on hips and stern expression routine, it transpired that he had both memorized Shego’s credit card details and ordered it the day **before** she’d gone to visit her rival. Either it had been sheer optimism on his part, or he’d known that, sooner or later, she would cave on the issue of breaking the green-skinned woman out.

“I can’t do it, Ru-Ru,” she said in anguish, “this goes against everything I’m supposed to stand for.”

The naked-mole-shark looked pointedly at her and simply uttered, “Shego!”

Kim let out a long sigh, memories of seeing her rival yesterday filling her mind. All personal feelings and needs aside, the manner in which the green-skinned woman was being treated was unquestionably cruel and inhumane. _If I don’t do this, if I do nothing and leave her to that fate, I’m condoning GJ’s actions. And there is no other option that will work quickly or not cost me something I’m unwilling to pay._ She looked at Ru-Ru again. “You’re right. If I leave her in there, I’m no better than Betty and that Captain Brooks.”

The naked-mole-shark nodded emphatically, “uh-hu, uh-hu, GJ bastards.”

She frowned at his use of the expletive but nevertheless nodded in agreement. “Ok, let’s do this.”

A wide grin that showed off all of his razor-sharp shark teeth formed on Ru-Ru’s face and he hopped down from the desk and scuttled up her leg and into the belt pouch of her battle suit. “Charge!” he yelled, before closing the flap over.

Kim could not help but grin at the creature before he disappeared. She then went to her desk and picked up the gadgets she’d selected for the job, hoping that she wouldn’t need anything else. The first was a combined ear and eyepiece with a blue lens. It linked in with the battle suit and served as both Kimmunicator and scanner. The second, a combined stealth-camo and heat signature suppression band. While the battle suit had both features as standard and could virtually turn her invisible to both the naked eye, thermal and sonar scanners, it would not be able to do the same for Shego. And given the state her rival had been in yesterday, Kim had a bad feeling that she might have to carry the woman out, which would be a lot easier if the guards couldn’t detect her. The only snag was that the device had a short time limit before the power cell burnt out. She’d have roughly five minutes to get Shego out of her cell, across the yard and over both the inner and outer walls before she became visible. The third and final device was not of Wade’s construction, rather something she’d had the Tweebs cook up for her when she’d moved back to Middleton; a personal jamming device. Given that she wore her Kimmunicator virtually everywhere and it had a unique electronic signature (she had the only active model), she’d figured that someone other than Wade, who had the right technical know-how, might be able to track her movements. And there were times when she wanted to go under everyone, including Wade’s radar.

 _Heh, I typically only use this when I go out for a drink and don’t want Wade passing my location to Monique and her friends. However, I’m not taking any chances. GJ certainly have people who could figure out how to track my tech without Wade’s knowledge and I don’t want him knowing where I’ve been either. And I can’t leave anything that might link me to Shego’s escape… my altercation with Captain Brooks yesterday was bad enough._ Kim had thought about her conversation with the Captain and in hindsight regrated not simply smiling and telling the woman she had been doing a fabulous job at keeping Shego and the other villains incarcerated. However, even if the woman did try to pin the blame on her, she was willing to bet that Dr Director would never entertain the notion. She might be at loggerheads with the head of GJ at present, but she’d given Betty zero reason to doubt her commitment to stopping supervillains and sending them to jail. Her exploits of two weeks ago, which included sending Shego to prison in the first place, more than a testament to that fact.

Kim activated the jamming device and slipped both it and the stealth-camo band into her belt pouch beside Ru-Ru. She then picked up the scanner, powered it on and hooked it onto her left ear. The device quickly calibrated itself, gave her a brief readout of the battle suits status; everything normal and then defaulted to standard vision. Satisfied, Kim shouldered a small backpack that contained a change of clothes for Shego, activated the suits stealth mode and made her way to the main living area. She was taking zero chances tonight, given this mission had the highest personal stakes she’d ever faced. She didn’t fear death, however, a cage, the fate that probably awaited her should she be caught, terrified her. To that end, no one would see her leave the apartment, get into the Sloth or indeed see her car drive off. A Tweeb designed hologram, which could trick both the naked eye and the building security cameras, taking the vehicles place.

Entering her living room, Kim headed straight for the balcony and stepped outside into the warm night air; it was just after nine pm. Closing the door behind her, she locked the apartment and activated its security system. As far as anyone would be able to tell, she’d arrived home late yesterday evening and not left since. Climbing up onto the balcony ledge, she turned around, shot the battle suit’s integrated grapple up at the roof and silently abseiled down the side of the building. She landed on the sidewalk without making a sound and easily weaved around the clueless pedestrians and down into the building’s undercroft. When she reached the Sloth, she used her suit to unlock the car and simultaneously activate its cloaking device and the hologram. She wasted no time in climbing in and starting the engine in stealth mode; depositing the backpack on the back seats.

Ru-Ru hopped out of her belt pouch, onto the passenger seat and rubbed his little paws as he sat down. “Vroom-vroom, Kimmie,” he uttered with delight.

She laughed, “sorry, Ru-Ru, but this baby won’t be making a sound until I get us out onto the highway.” To demonstrate her point, she guided the Sloth out of the bay without so much as a hint of tire squeal. “Ok, let’s go get Shego.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Ru-Ru replied, doing his best Muttley impersonation.

Silently, Kim guided the Sloth out into the Middleton night, still unsure about the morality of what she was about to do, but certain that she needed to do it.

##

“Lights out!” the voice of Lieutenant Boyle barked, seconds before all the lights within cellblock D went out.

Shego closed over A storm of swords, reached down and placed it atop the nightstand she shared with Bonnie. She then flopped her head back against the pillow and closed her eyes. She lasted all of five seconds before she had to blow her nose. Dragging the course toilet paper over the green-raw crags of her nostrils felt like she was scraping them with sandpaper, alas she had no choice. Rolling over onto her side; facing the wall, she closed her eyes again. This time she managed seven seconds before she had to wipe away more snot that had started to leak out of her nostrils. She took a long breath in through her nose, physically sucking the mucus up her nasal passageways and for a full thirty seconds managed to negate the need to blow. Then she sneezed.

“Urgh, seriously, are you going to be making so much noise all night?” Bonnie called out from beneath her.

Shego tried to laugh but ended up having to blow her nose again. “Like you can talk. I might have been zombified, but I can remember your snoring perfectly well. You sound like a rusty lawnmower making out with a weedwhacker.”

There was a loud, “hmph,” from the lower bunk, but Bonnie did not say another word on the matter.

Rolling over again, Shego tried for a third time to get comfortable, but it was no good. Ironically, she felt hot and sticky, with sweat rolling down the back of her t-shirt. While the prisoners often kept their jumpsuits on for warmth, given how thin the blankets were, she’d already stripped hers off before climbing into bed straight after dinner. When the need to blow her nose struck again, she did so, then tore off two strips of toilet paper and stuffed one up each nostril. _Urgh, I hate having a fucking cold. Why couldn’t my glow make me immune to that instead of seeing alcohol as a poison?_ She laughed internally, _heh, even a weird alien superpower succumbs to the common cold. I guess that virus really is one persistent bastard._

_“Speaking of things that are persistent…”_

Shego groaned at the sound of the voice she associated with Miss Go putting the thought into her mind. _I’m ill, so am not doing this right now._ Unfortunately, being ill was exactly why she would have to endure another internalised debate with herself; it was preventing her from falling asleep. _Can’t this wait till I’m feeling better?_

 _“Sorry, Cupcake, but that letter arrived today and your mind is back to normal, so you don’t have a choice in the matter,”_ Miss Go said airily. _“Unless you simply want to open it and save yourself the trouble.”_

 _Not going to happen,_ Shego bit back. _I don’t care what she thinks of me._

 _“We both know that’s a lie,”_ Miss Go replied, her tone calm. _“If you wholeheartedly did not care, you wouldn’t be having this debate. Seriously, your mind gets zombified for a week or sp and you forget how this works? I don’t know whether or not I should feel insulted.”_

_Given that I hate myself for how messed up that serum makes my brain, you probably do. I am you and all that crap._

_“You can’t blame yourself for succumbing to something that is deliberately designed to debilitate you.”_

_It’s been administered to me enough times that I should be able to better fight against it,_ Shego growled.

 _“But you have,”_ Miss Go said in a placating tone. _“You’ve got your glow back in less than two weeks. Last time it took you months.”_

 _It took a visit from Kimmie to make that happen,_ Shego said, her voice laced with resentment.

_“You were making progress before Brooks put you in the hole.”_

_Yeah, and even that was because of Kimmie. Face it, If she hadn’t shown up, I’d be stuck back at square one after being let out of the hole,_ she said in annoyance.

Miss Go did not provide a counter-argument and for a few minutes of silence, Shego thought she was about to be left alone to suffer her cold until exhaustion finally claimed her. Only for her devil’s advocate to return to the original point of discussion, _“so, what are you going to do about that letter?”_

Shego tried to suck in a breath, but a collection of mucus at the back of her throat caused her to gag. A loud gurgled grunt escaped from her mouth as she tried to take in air, before a reflex reaction forced her to snort the wads of tissue out of her nostrils. Gratefully, she took as deep a breath as she could through her nose and then spat the mucus out into another piece of tissue. _Yuck!_ Her nose then promptly began to run with a vengeance.

 _“So, what about that letter. Aren’t you at least a little curious about what it says?”_ Miss Go prompted again.

 _No,_ Shego fired back and blew her nose again. _I already told you, I don’t care what she thinks about me._

_“Are you so sure that she’ll judge you for your life choices?”_

_Well, doy, of course she will. Don’t you remember the last conversation I had with her regarding my life choices?_

Miss Go hesitated a little before she replied, _“yes... However, there is every possibility that she’s changed her point of view in the subsequent years.”_

A laugh of derision almost escaped from behind Shego’s lips, _do you even hear yourself? Have you forgotten how much of a bitch she was to me back then? There is no way she’s changed her mind._

_“Then why has she written to you every time you’ve been in jail?”_

_I don’t know and I don’t care,_ Shego spat and then promptly had to blow her nose.

When she had finished dealing with yet another snot bomb, Miss Go continued, _“think about it logically, if she wanted to cut you off completely, she wouldn’t have written at all. And if she simply wanted to criticize your life choices, she would have done so in her first letter and never needed to send another. Meaning...”_

 _...meaning I don’t give a shit,_ Shego swiftly cut in and deliberately rolled over again; a physical display that she considered the matter closed.

 _“Ok...”_ Miss Go began carefully, _“...she’s still too much of a touchy subject at the moment. That’s fine, we can come back to her at a later date. Now, what about Kimmie? Have you given any more thought as to what you’re going to do in regards to her once you get out of here?”_

 _URGH!_ Shego groaned internally. _Are you making up for lost time or something?_ Her point was probably fairly close to the mark. She’d spent almost two weeks with barely a moment in her right mind and so had a backlog of things to try and process. The arrival of today’s letter simply adding to her already full inbox.

_“Something like that. So, Kimmie, where do you want to start?”_

Shego groaned again and blew her nose. This was going to be one very long night.

##

Kim had gotten out of Middleton and about five minutes down the highway before the seeds of doubt pertaining to her current course of action had reared their ugly heads again. And as the Sloth rapidly ate up the miles between herself and Shego, things had only gotten worse.

 _“Ok, so out of all the bad ideas you’ve had in your entire life, this one takes the gold without contest,”_ the voice of her younger self; Kimmie said in exasperation.

The image of herself from five years ago; dressed in her old Club Banana blue capris and green vest, formed inside Kim’s mind and she fully understood why. Kim from five years ago had been so sure of herself, of where she stood and had an unwavering iron will backing up her stringent black and white morals. However, time and experience had started to loosen that grip. Indeed, the recent revelation about her sexuality had obliterated something so fundamental about her being that she couldn’t help but question everything she stood for.

 _It’s not about whether or not it’s a good idea, it’s about doing what’s right,_ Kim replied, trying to sound convinced about that fact.

 _“Breaking a supervillain out of jail is **not** right,” _Kimmie countered.

 _It is when the individual in question is not being treated like a human being,_ Kim fired back.

_“No, it’s not! You’re being completely reactionary. In fact, this is Ron level reactionary!”_

_I am not being reactionary,_ Kim insisted, as she shifted the Sloth onto the opposite side of the carriageway, so she could zoom past a law-abiding motorist.

 _“What part of this is not reactionary?”_ Kimmie yelled at her. _“You saw Shego yesterday, which I might add; you should never have done, and are now away to break her out of jail, just because you thought they were being a little harsh on her.”_

Infuriated by her younger self’s take on the situation, she swerved back into her lane and floored the gas pedal. _You call that a little harsh!_ Kim said incredulously. _They had her bound tighter than protons in an atom **and** drugged out of her mind to the point that she could barely tell I was there. Not to mention that they’d kept her in solitary confinement for days on end. If that’s what you call a little harsh, I’d hate to see your idea of brutal._

_“Ok, fine, maybe they’re being a bit cruel to her. However, that doesn’t justify you breaking her out.”_

_Then what would justify me breaking her out?_

_“Nothing,”_ Kimmie replied firmly, as though this answer should have been obvious. _“She’s a supervillain and belongs in jail.”_ There was a moment of silence before the girl continued, _“however, I know exactly why you’re doing this.”_

 _And why is that?_ Kim spat in annoyance. She was getting more than a little fed up of the perpetual arguments with herself.

 _“This has nothing to do with the morality of what’s happening to Shego and everything to do with your selfish desire to talk to someone about being a lesbian,”_ Kimmie answered, contempt lacing her tone. And Kim knew that some of the derision was due to the small part of her that still wanted to reject her sexuality. Then, like she was purposefully trying to add insult to injury, Kimmie added, _“I remember a time when you would never have put your personal feelings ahead of your duty as a hero.”_

 _This is not about me!_ Kim cried. However, she knew it wasn’t strictly true. Despite the human rights violations surrounding Shego, she very much had a personal stake in tonight’s mission. If all went well and her rival was willing, she’d have the outlet for her questions, fears and concerns about being a lesbian that she desperately needed. She remained silent for several miles before she finally said, _ok, so maybe part of this is about me._

 _“It should **never** be about you,” _Kimmie answered, tone laced with venom. _“You have a duty as a hero and to stray from that will lead you down a slippery slope.”_

 _I can’t help the fact I might benefit from this and it will not change who I am or what I stand for,_ Kim protested. _Besides, what would you have me do, break her out but not ask for her help?_

_“I’d have you leave her where she belongs.”_

_That’s not an option._

_“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. I would **never** have broken **any** villain out of jail, let alone Shego, **ever!** ”_ Kimmie said, her words holding a firm finality.

That was the end of her latest internalised argument, for which Kim was rather thankful. However, Kimmie’s final words continued to haunt her as the Sloth gobbled up even more miles of the quiet interstate. Eventually, she couldn’t stand it anymore and turned on the stereo. Selecting Paramore’s Riot! album; a recent acquisition she’d become enamoured with, she turned it up loud. The slamming guitars and bass, coupled with the thunderous rhythm of the drums helped to distract her as she ventured on into the ever-increasing darkness of the night.

##

It was just after half-past-midnight, when Kim finally brought the Sloth to a standstill, about half a mile from the imposing walls of the penitentiary. Even in the dead of night and without the aid of the stray light from the large searchlights, she would still have been able to make them out; they were that daunting. With the car already in full stealth mode, she left the engine running, in case she needed to either move it remotely or make a hasty getaway.

Kim turned to Ru-Ru, who was rubbing his little paws in anticipation. “Stay here,” she said in a firm, no-nonsense tone.

The naked-mole-shark began to hop up and down and mutter a string of unintelligible curses, clearly unhappy at not getting to take part in the action.

She fixed him with a deadly serious glare. “Do you want me to break Shego out or not?”

“Uh-hu, uh-hu,” he replied and nodded his head.

“Then stay here. I’m going to be risking my butt out there and need to limit the number of things that are out with my control. And you are definitely out with my control.”

Ru-Ru gave her a wide grin but did not try to follow her as she climbed out of the car.

Even with her stealth-camo active, Kim took her time and tread lightly towards the prison walls. Using her eyepiece, she zoomed in on the structure and began a detailed scan. It took her a full five minutes to build up an accurate map of the place; including the locations of all the defensive weaponry. _Damn, this place is virtually a fortress. And Aside from Shego, I doubt any of the inmates could escape by themselves and it would take some serious firepower to breach it from the outside to instigate a jailbreak. However, that’s the securities major weakness; it’s designed to repel a large assault while trusting that no one on the inside could acquire the tools for a one-man breakout. It’s not designed to stop a single, highly skilled individual with the right gear, from breaking in. Unfortunately, that’s going to be the easy part. If Shego’s in the same state as yesterday, I’ll be pushing it to get her out before the stealth-camo band gives out._

She was only about two-hundred yards away from the outer wall now and her heart had already started to hammer inside her chest; like it was a drum from one of the tracks on Riot! _Get a grip of yourself, Possible. You’re completely undetectable. They literally will not see you coming._ That thought didn’t help matters. She could still hear the echo of Kimmie telling her that she would **never** have done this a few years ago. _Life’s not that simple and things are not either black or white, there’s a whole scale of grey in between. On that point, I’ll agree with Captain Brooks. Breaking Shego out defiantly falls into the shades of grey category... and unlike what GJ is doing to her; it’s a shade of grey I’m willing to accept._

Kim changed the setting on her eyepiece and began scanning for life. Naturally, she found the place full of indistinguishable individuals and one with unique physiology. _Found you!_ She had to alter her course and skirt around to the eastern side of the complex to get a direct line between herself and Shego’s cell; the woman was on the second floor. The Kimmunicator quickly plotted her route, calculated the distance and give her a time frame. _Ok, so based on the idea I have to carry her out, I’ll get between fifty to one-hundred yards beyond the outer wall before the stealth-camo band dies._ While it may have been paranoia, that was far closer than she wanted to bring the Sloth. Linking with the car’s interface, she plotted a course that would bring it around to the eastern side of the prison; five-hundred yards from the outer wall and sent it on its way. If needs be, she’d have it meet her on her way out.

With great trepidation, Kim crossed the final few yards to the towering mass of grey concrete. Even though she should be completely undetectable to the naked eye and any type of scanner, she took no chances and waited until the searchlights from both watchtowers were facing away from her before raising her hand and shooting the battle suits integrated grapple at the top of the wall. _Ok, no going back now. Let’s do this thing._ Cautiously, Kim scaled the wall, trying to minimise the noise she made as much as possible. Ultimately, it was child’s play for her and it took little time to reach the top. Her hand immediately found a fistful of razor-wire as she pulled herself up and had she not been wearing her battle suit, it would have been torn to shreds. She felt a slight tingling in her fingers; a sign that the wire was also electrified. The Kimmunicator had picked up on this fact, but she’d paid it little head, for her suit could dissipate that level of current.

Pulling herself up atop the outer wall, Kim took a moment to breathe and did a quick scan of the facility and its security systems. _Ok, doesn’t look like they’re any the wiser to my presence._ While she had not expected them to be able to detect her, she found the readings from the scanner reassuring nonetheless. _Heh, I actually feel a little nervous._ Her mind had to go way back to the summer before her freshman year of high school to find the last time she’d felt like this while on a mission. Granted, the mission in question had been no ordinary one and ironically, she’d had a personal stake in it too. Had she not been perfect that day, while under the intense scrutiny of her parents, her hero career would have been over before it had even truly begun. Another irony, for if she made a single slip up tonight and GJ were able to identify her, she’d face the same fate and possibly even a bunk next to Shego’s.

Kim swatted the memory from her mind, _got to focus._ Using the Kimmunicator, she sliced into the facilities security system to deactivate the laser grid between the two walls and trick it into thinking it was still active. The whole process taking her almost a full minute. When her scanner finally read that it was offline, she fired the grapple at the top of the inside wall, jumped from her perch and soared towards it. Her boots hit the concrete, but absorbed the shock; a light scraping sound the only noise produced. She internally cursed it anyway and quickly climbed to the top; her hands again meeting with a crown of electrified razor wire, which caused her no issue. She did another scan; all clear, then reactivated the laser grid. While it was tempting to leave it offline to save precious time on the way out, she did not dare risk it. If someone saw through her ruse, they’d almost certainly trigger the alarm, making her escape infinitely more difficult. Wasting no more time, Kim turned around and slowly abseiled down the wall.

Her feet touched down on the ground without a sound and she quickly retracted the grapple. Again, taking no chances, she waited until both searchlights were facing away from her path before running across the yard. Even though nothing impeded her, it still took her a full minute at a brisk jog. Unfortunately, she had no other choice, as the distance between the inner wall and the building was too far to use the grapple. Pressing her back up against the wall of cellblock D, she toggled the Kimmunicator display on her eyepiece and started to hack the internal security system. Each cell had cameras inside it; along with a force-field around the window. So, like with the laser grid, she had to disable both while tricking the system into thinking they were still active. While back in the day this would have been where she called Wade, the latest Kimmunicator model, coupled with the skills she’d painstakingly acquired through practice, allowed her to do the job herself. She did an internal fist-pump when the green light flashed to indicate she could now proceed, _and we’re good to go!_

Shooting the grapple up to the window ledge of Shego’s cell, Kim quickly scaled the wall. Pulling herself up, her gaze travelled inside and immediately located the bunk beds. On the lower one, she could see a head of brown hair. However, it was the sound of the girl’s snoring that identified her as Bonnie; she would recognise that noise anywhere. _Heh, so Brooks actually put her in a cell with..._

Kim’s gaze travelled upwards and the second she caught a glimpse of raven hair, her heart skipped a beat. “Shego...” she breathed, the word escaping her lips before she could stop it. She quickly clapped a hand over her mouth and froze. Nothing happened. Bonnie’s snoring most likely having drowned out the sound of her voice. _Focus, Kim,_ she chastised herself, _you’re not even halfway there yet._ Shifting her gaze to the cell door, she kept a constant eye on the opposite side, just in case a guard happened to walk by and glance inside. Withdrawing her laser-lipstick, she took hold of the first bar in one hand and expertly used the gadget to slice through it; top and bottom. The heavy steel rod came free with little protest or sound. However, she had to hang onto it while she incised the second one, making it a slightly more awkward task, due to the sheer thickness of the two bars combined. When it came loose, she was able to slip herself through the window and inside the cell. She quietly placed both bars on the floor. _Ok, Shego, time to get you out of here._

##

Shego rolled over and let out a gargled grunt; a result of mucus dripping down the back of her throat, like slime through a grating and into a sewer. The resultant cough was enough to rouse her from her restless slumber. _Urgh, I feel like crap._ The thought cut through the haze of semi-consciousness and woke her enough that she realised she had snot streaming from both nostrils; she also felt hot and stuffy. _Urgh!_ Grabbing a wad of toilet paper from underneath her pillow, she wiped her nose and then blew it for good measure. Carelessly she then cast the coarse tissue aside and let it fall to join its predecessors in the bin beside the bunks.

Shego tried to take a breath in threw her nose, but found her nasal passageways blocked. It was at that point, as she was forced to breathe through her mouth, that she realised something was amiss. The air inside the room felt slightly cooler... fresher than it normally did, like outside air had somehow gotten past the force-field. She froze, her senses automatically going on high alert. _Something’s not right... I can feel it._ Cautiously she rolled over, pretending that she was still asleep. Only the moment her gaze fell upon the cell window, she sat bolt upright. _What the hell..._ the bars were... gone. An odd thing indeed. Cell bars did not have a habit of just vanishing and certainly not on Captain Brooks’ watch. _Ok..._ she thought warily, _what the fuck is going on?_

Kim crept towards the bunk beds, the sound of her rival blowing her nose reaching her ears. _Dammit, she sounds sick._ Slowly, she reached out a quivering hand to gently touch Shego on the arm, however, stopped dead in her tracks when the woman rolled over and then sat bolt upright. Heart in her mouth, she stood rooted to the spot, her rivals piercing emerald gaze boring straight through her own to what she assumed was the window and its missing bars. _Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!_

Even though Shego felt like a piece of shit that had been trodden on and then dragged ten meters down the sidewalk before the shoe wearer had stopped to scrape it off on the tarmac, she forced her brain into gear. _Ok, so either someone is here to break myself or Bonnie out, or this is some twisted trap laid by Brooks to torment me._ She discarded the latter option immediately. While the Captain loved to torture her, the woman would not do so by risking the chance she might escape. which returned her to option one.

Shego stopped to listen. It was eerily quiet, with only the light whistling of the wind through the window to be heard. The lack of explosions, alarms and yells of the guards told her immediately that this was a stealth job, which ruled out a jailbreak by Señor Senior, Senior. The man was too enamoured with the traditions of villainy, meaning that such an act had to be done with copious flair and aplomb. _That means that whoever is behind this is here for me._

Shego’s brain ran through the list of possible villains that might want to break her out this time and quickly narrowed it down to no one. At the same time, she forced her nose to take in a deep breath. That was the moment she caught a faint hint of cherry and almond. _I know that scent..._ she took another breath. Even through her bunged-up nostrils, she could defiantly detect notes of cherry and almond; from a shampoo. And there was no doubt in her mind about who it belonged to.

“Hello, Kimmie,” Shego said in a slow; somewhat cold voice, which would be just loud enough to reach her rival’s ears.

Kim instinctively recoiled from her rival and her mouth fell open, the words, “how did you…” spilling out before she could stop them.

A thin smile formed on Shego’s lips. Even though she couldn’t see it, she could imagine the gobsmacked expression that had just formed on Kimmie’s face. “Your shampoo,” she replied. “Even with a cold, I’d recognise that cherry and almond scent anywhere, especially given the excellent whiff I got of it back in Dr D’s volcano lair.”

Even though she was here to break the green-skinned woman out, Kim still felt infuriated at having let her get one over on her. _Mental note, have Wade add something to the battle suit that masks my scent._ She glanced out of the cell door to make sure the coast was clear before deactivating her stealth-camo. “Hi,” she said warmly but quietly, on becoming visible.

Shego drew herself up into a sitting position, her brain still struggling to comprehend the fact that Kim Possible had just broken inside the country’s highest security prison and to see her of all people. _What the hell is she doing here?_ She asked herself the question before saying anything else and sensed the barrage of conflicting feelings that were preparing to overcome her the moment the shock wore off. And ultimately, cutting through all the bullshit, she did not know whether she wanted to snog or punch the girl, or both. “So, what’s the deal, Kimmie? You break in here to have a little chat with me and then fly away again?” Shego asked, sarcasm lacing her tone.

Kim couldn’t help but feel slightly hurt on hearing the contempt in her rival’s voice, even though she understood why. _Hopefully, once I get her out of here and explain everything, she’ll be less frosty towards me._ She met the green-skinned woman’s piercing emerald eyes with an unwavering gaze from her olive-greens “No,” she replied, her tone deadly serious, “I’m breaking you out.”

Shego’s jaw dropped and for a moment she looked disbelievingly at the fiery-haired vixen. She then let out a slightly hollow laugh, “ha-ha, very funny, Kimmie.” The ice then returned to her tone, “why are you really here? Didn’t you have enough fun with Captain Brooks yesterday?”

Her eyes rolled as Kim let out a sigh of irritation. Although to be fair to her rival, the idea that she was here to break her out must have seemed completely preposterous, especially since the woman probably blamed her for her incarceration in the first place. She then fixed Shego with a stare that contained no hint of humour or amusement. “Yesterday, I saw more than enough of what they’re doing to you in here to know they’re treating you inhumanly. So, I’m getting you out.”

This time Shego simply stared at Kimmie, completely dumbfounded. While it seemed completely illogical, she somehow knew that the hero was telling the truth. “No way,” she breathed, unable to process the sheer unbelievability of the situation. Her gaze then travelled around the cell as she uttered, “I’m sick, probably with a fever… yeah… this is just some sort of weird fever dream. You’re not really here.”

“Shego!” Kim said, slightly louder than she would have liked. “I’m here and I’m getting **you** out. However, the longer you dilly-dally, the more chance I’ll end up as your new cellmate instead.”

If the two sides of Shego’s face could have acted independently of each other, one side would have been grinning and the other scowling. Alas, she had to make do with a weird sort of sarky smile. Her thoughts too were split between, _hell_ yeah and _no fucking way._ Thus, her reply was a completely neutral, “I’m sure Captain Brooks would find that highly amusing.” She then smirked and added a hint of sass to her tone, “in fact, she’d probably toss in another bunk so Bonnie could stay. Heh, maybe she’d even change our block too. The Cellblock C Sirens has a much nicer ring to it.”

“We’ll have time for your sassy commentary once we’re safely inside the Sloth and leaving this place in our dust,” Kim replied, resisting the urge to laugh and moving back to stand by the window. While outwardly she was chastising her rival, internally she felt a lot calmer. Despite the fact Shego had a cold, or worse, their escape would be far easier than she’d expected. “Let’s get out of here.”

The frost returned to Shego’s voice as she said, “not so fast, Kimmie. Say I believe that your wonky moral compass is compelling you to break me out, why the hell would I trust you to get me out of here? You brought GJ down on me and Dr D and got us both arrested in the first place. I wouldn’t need breaking out if it hadn’t been for you.”

Her rival’s words cut Kim deeply, given that she had not been directly responsible for the appearance of Global Justice at Drakken’s volcano lair. She’d been afraid of finding Shego with this attitude, however, hoped that the woman would have kept such emotions bottled until after they had reached the safety of the Sloth. Forcibly she suppressed her own feelings, fixed her rival with a no-nonsense glare and replied pragmatically, “we can talk about that later. Right now, you can either come with me and get out of this hell-hole, or stay until either you can break yourself out or someone else does. However, I’ve seen the security Brooks has installed. Even you are not getting out of here at anything less than full strength and it’s going to take some careful planning and considerable force on someone else’s part to bust you out.”

Shego scowled at Kimmie, not happy with the situation one bit. However, if there was someone’s opinion she could trust when it came to security, it was her rival’s, given the number of secret villain lairs the hero had broken into over the years. Not only that, but she’d taken note of how much more control Brooks had over the facility than the previous administration. And in the end, despite how much she might despise it, Kimmie was right; she either accepted the offer or waited until she was back at full strength, which ran the risk of another dose of the GJ serum. “Fine, Princess. I’ll let you clear your conscience and get me out of here. However, after that, we go our separate ways.”

While it was not the response she had been hoping for, Kim knew she would get no better concession from her rival at this point in time. That and she was living on borrowed time at the moment. The longer she lingered inside the cell, the more chance she’d become a permanent resident. “Fine. Get dressed and let’s get out of here.” 

Shego quietly climbed down the ladder, tiptoed to the foot of the bunks and opened her footlocker; cursing the fact that it creaked. Her gaze immediately snapped to the sleeping form of Bonnie, but the former cheerleader simply kept on snoring. Withdrawing her jumpsuit and shoes, she slipped both on and then reached back inside for the letter. She looked at it for a moment; felt its weight in her hands, before stuffing it in her pocket. _Why do I even bother taking these with me when I escape?_ Something for her to argue with herself over at a later time.

“Ready to go?” Kim asked, her voice slightly antsy. She’d lingered inside the cell far longer than she’d wanted to, especially given that she’d planned on simply picking her rival up and then heading straight back out the window.

“Yeah,” Shego replied and walked over to join the fiery-haired vixen. As she passed Bonnie, her gaze lingered for a moment. _Will she be ok by herself, given that Junior’s still in the infirmary?_ The question caught her by surprise and she found her pace slowing. “She doesn’t belong here,” she said without really knowing what she was implying.

Kim looked at Shego, a stern expression on her face. “Tough,” she said, her tone slightly cold and indicating that she still had a firm grip on the metaphorical bone that existed between herself and her old schoolyard rival. “She’ll just have to learn how to survive.”

“She’s surviving because I’m looking out for her,” Shego replied. _Why do I feel so protective of her and am I actually suggesting that we take her with us?_

“Shego,” Kim hissed, her tone demanding her rival pay attention to her. “I came here to break **you** out, not Bonnie. Besides, the security in this place is ultra-tight. There’s no way any of us can get out of here and to the Sloth without being spotted unless we’ve got stealth-camo and I only have one band; for **you**. So, you can either stay here and be a mother bear to Bonnie or escape with me.”

It took Shego completely by surprise at just how difficult this classic moral dilemma proved to be. However, between the options of staying in jail to help Bonnie and escaping with Kimmie, there was no contest. “Ok, Princess. Let’s blow this joint.”

A feeling of relief washed over Kim when she heard her rival’s words of agreement. _Heh, I would never have thought that Shego could be struck by such a moral dilemma and over Bonnie of all people._ It was in that moment, on realising that this was another revelation about the woman’s character, that she was reminded of just how much they had in common and of how desperate she had been to learn everything she could about her, prior to the disastrous end to their second night in Spritzers. _There’ll be time for your curiosity later,_ she told herself and fished inside her belt pouch. “Here,” Kim said and held out the chrome bracelet. “Put it on and press the button when you’re ready to activate it.”

Shego took the metallic band and stared at it for a second or two. “Nerdlinger tech?” she asked, already knowing the answer. Before Kimmie replied, she fastened it around her wrist.

“Yeah,” Kim said, internally rolling her eyes at her rival’s pet name for Wade. _Some things never change._ “Unfortunately, it’s gutsy on the juice and so can only last about five minutes before the power cell gives out.”

“Meaning my green ass will be on display for all the guards to take a shot at,” Shego finished. “Good to know. Guess we’ll have to make this quick.” She then frowned as a thought occurred to her. “If we’re both invisible, how the hell are we supposed to see each other?”

“That stealth-camo band isn’t as good at suppressing a heat signature as the battle suit, so there will just be enough residual energy for my scanner to pick up on. However...” Kim paused mid-thought. Given that she had expected to carry Shego out, she hadn’t given any thought to the woman needing to see her in return.

“...however, I won’t be able to see you,” Shego finished for her, unable to keep the scorn from her tone. “How the hell am I supposed to follow you if I can’t see you, Kimmie?”

Kim wracked her brain in search of a solution and had to quash a growing bubble of doubt that threatened to burst and send her into full-blown panic. She took a calming breath, _get a grip of yourself, Possible. You can do anything, remember._ Except the only solution she could think of probably wouldn’t go down well with Shego. “You’ll just have to trust me.”

Shego almost burst out laughing at the suggestion. _Me, trust Kim fucking Possible, after she got me thrown in jail in the first place, yeah right._ Unfortunately, bar an exceptionally petty suggestion that they swap clothes and Kimmie could trust her, she realised she had no other option if she wanted to escape. She rolled her eyes, “fine, but screw me over and I’ll make damn sure Captain Brooks gets a new favourite plaything.”

Kim let out a breath as she said, “ok,” having been worried that her rival would have changed her mind on the whole thing on point of principle. “I’ll grapple down, then you can follow me. When we reach the bottom, I’ll guide you over to the inner wall and we’ll grapple up together. Just watch out for the electrified razor wire at the top.”

“I think some electrified razor wire is the least of my worries,” Shego replied acridly.

“Right, let's go. We’ll have about five minutes after you turn on the stealth-camo band,” Kim said and re-activated the battle suit’s stealth mode.

Shego watched her rival disappear and rolled her eyes. _Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret this?_ She stood beside the window and strained her ears for the faint sound of Kimmie climbing out.

Kim switched her scanner to thermal mode before pulling herself through the window and out into the cool night air. Shooting the grapple up at the roof, she quickly abseiled down, then turned her gaze back up towards the window.

On hearing the almost undetectable sound of Kimmie’s grapple firing, Shego blew her nose one last time, tossed the wad of toilet paper aside and pressed the singular button on the chrome bracelet. Almost instantly, she disappeared from her own view and bearing the short time limit the hero had given her in mind, she quickly climbing out of the window. It took her hand a moment to find the grapple line and it was more than a little bit disconcerting to trust her neck to a thin cable she could not see. Nevertheless, she took a firm hold on it and climbed down the side of the building.

For once, Kim found her cursing Wade’s technical prowess; she could only just make out the vague outline that was Shego climbing out of the window. In the top corner of the scanner’s display, a digital clock was counting down and it made her feel somewhat uneasy to have a visual representation of how much time she had before they were screwed. _This must be what it’s like to diffuse a bomb. Only if this one goes off and I get caught, my fate could be worse than death._ As she watched Shego descend, she hacked back into the security system to reactivate the cell’s forcefield, but intentionally left the camera feed on the loop she’d set it on prior to entry. When the dull outline that was Shego finally touched down on the ground, the clock had already eaten up twenty seconds. “Right, let’s go,” Kim hissed and grabbed at what she assumed was the green-skinned woman’s hand.

Shego heard Kimmie’s words and suddenly felt the hero’s hand take hold of her hand. She didn’t even have the chance to whisper, _“ok,”_ before she felt a tug in the direction of the inner wall. Hand in hand, partners in this most messed up of jailbreaks, she broke into a run. With each step, her eyes darted between the wall that was their goal and the two imposing watchtowers at its two corners. _If this bit of Nerdlinger tech breaks and they spot me, I wonder if it’ll be real bullets Brooks will have them shoot at me?_

Kim’s heart was racing by the time she reached the inner wall and not because she’d just sprinted the distance; they were down to just under four minutes. “Quick, climb onto my back,” she whispered in the direction of the faint heat signature.

“How am I supposed to do…” Shego began, but already felt Kimmie grab both her hands and drape them over her shoulders. Taking a firm hold around the hero’s neck, she jumped up and locked her legs around the girl’s waist. Kimmie’s shoulders didn’t so much as droop under her weight.

With Shego securely on her back, Kim shot the grapple at the top of the wall and quickly pulled them upwards. With the enhancements the battle suit gave to her strength, she had scarcely any more trouble hauling the two of them up onto the top of the wall than she had when she had been on her own. Although, that being said, she could still have managed the task without it. She felt the same tingle in her fingers as before when they tangled with the razor wire but again paid it no heed.

Feet dangling just above the electrified wire, Shego hissed, “what are you waiting for?” when the girl did not immediately fire the grapple at the outer wall. While she had no timer, she’d been counting the seconds and had reached almost two minutes.

“I need to disarm the laser grid or it’ll trigger the alarm,” Kim replied, as she waited for the program to finish hacking.

“Some time today, Kimmie,” Shego said somewhat impatiently. Clinging to her rival’s back, while atop a ridiculously high prison wall, with electrified razor wire only an inch or two from her ass, was a position she’d rather not hang around in.

“Almost… got it!” Kim said as the laser grid shut down. The clock now read two minutes and twenty seconds to go. Taking aim, she fired the grapple at the outer wall and jumped the second she felt it catch.

The wind blew through Shego’s long raven hair as she all of a sudden found herself hurtling towards the outer wall. Instinctively she braced for impact and was more than a little surprised to feel almost nothing when her arms stopped about two foot from the concrete. _Hmm, looks like Kimmie’s battle suit has damn good shock absorption. Maybe it’s time I considered an upgrade to my own._

The clock now rapidly approaching the two-minute mark, Kim retracted the grapple and the pair rose steadily upwards. While the stakes were astronomically higher, she couldn’t help but have the thought, _at least this is easier than sneaking into the Seniors island that time I had Bonnie attached to me._ Pulling them onto the top of the wall, she had just straightened up when all around them sirens began to blare. And suddenly, the entire complex lit up like Las Vegas on steroids.

 _Oh, shit!_ Both Kim and Shego thought simultaneously.

Unfortunately, Kim scarcely had time for that one thought and her Kimmunicator warned her of the immediate danger too late. Like she had just been struck by a bolt of lightning, the light tingling in her ankles from the electrified razor wire instantaneously became a massive shock and the hero was blasted backwards off of the wall; her mind overcome by the pain that coursed through her entire body.

Shego too received the massive electric shock and could do nothing to prevent her grip being wrenched from Kimmie’s shoulders. At that moment, her mind had no concept of what had just happened for like the hero, it was blinded by the pain, as she too hurtled uncontrollably towards the minefield below...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... that was a rather shocking wallhanger. Lol, yeah, terrible pun, I know. So, what did you all think? Right now I suspect the odds on Kim and Shego getting caught have just been slashed across the board. And, given how much I liked the name when I came up with it, I'll give you good odds on the Cellblock C Sirens happening, lol. And yes, it is a direct reference to the Gotham City Sirens, for those of you that are a fan of the Batmanverse.
> 
> I suppose this is the point where I get to say: end of season two.
> 
> ...lol, ok, so I'm just messing with you all there, I still have a lot more I want to do before we get to the end of the season. Like I said at the beginning, the next update will consist of more than one chapter. When will it be ready? I don't know yet. I know you will all be desperate to find out what happens to Kim and Shego, but I hope you would all rather have the next update take a little longer, so it can be the best it can be, rather getting a mediocre one as soon as possible. As Shigeru Miyamoto once said, 'A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad'. 
> 
> Thank you all for your support and I hope to see everyone for the next update. 
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


	54. S212(U6): Band on the run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok everyone, welcome back. After much sweat, blood and tears on my part and a lot of (im)patient waiting on your part, here it is at last; the conclusion to the jailbreak. Seriously, I've been up since 7:30 this morning reading and editing these chapters for you. After three single chapter updates, it feels good to get back to a proper sized update, in this instance four chapters worth! 
> 
> Before we get started, I want to thank you all for the great response to the last chapter. I really hope this conclusion lives up to your expectations. 
> 
> Right, let's get started. As you are probably all eager to get to the actual chapter or have already skipped this author's note, I'll be brief. This chapter is titled after the Paul McCartney and wings song Band on the run, from the album of the same name (remember chapter eight of this season used a lyric from it). As I'm a fan of the song and album, it wouldn't have felt right not to use it as a title for a jailbreak chapter. So, without further ado, enjoy.

It was a quiet night, with only a light summer breeze wafting through the cool air. The sky was a clear sheet of dark navy and sprinkled with specks of light from the twinkling collection of stars. Down below on the dry, dusty, compacted dirt, which in daylight was a terracotta colour, a coyote slinked in search of its dinner. A dinner that was, unknown to the canine at the time, about to scamper into its hole and not come out again for the rest of the night. For a few hundred yards away, a tremendous racket sounded as sirens began to wail and the entire area was suddenly bathed in a white light that would trump Las Vegas when it came to brightness.

Between the inner and outer walls of the penitentiary, Kim Possible, pro-hero and world saviour and Shego, supervillain and global menace, were currently hurtling down towards a literal minefield of concussive charges, which the prison’s Lieutenant had boasted could take down an elephant. For once, as (K)impossible as it may have been, the pair were actually on the same side; the former having just broken the latter out of her cell. Unfortunately, luck had not been on their side. At about the same time the pair had been perched atop the inner wall; one of the prison guards had looked into the green-skinned woman’s cell and noticed the window bars had been missing. Naturally, he had hurriedly gone inside, discovered one of the cell’s inmates was missing and promptly sounded the alarm. Kim had just pulled up onto the top of the outer wall when the alarm had blared in her ears and the voltage across the razor wire in which her legs had been entangled had shot up ten-fold. The resultant shock had blasted her backwards and caused Shego to lose her grip from around her neck; sending the pair plummeting towards the minefield below.

The sound of the sirens seemed muffled as Kim’s brain tried to cut through the wall of pain and tell her that she was now hurtling towards the ground. Her vision was blurry and had it not been for her battle suit, she would unquestionably have been unconscious... or worse. For a few very brief moments, during which she rapidly descended, she was utterly helpless. Then everything happened at once.

It did not matter that Shego, who had received less of a shock than Kimmie, managed to get her brain into gear a few seconds earlier than her rival. For she had absolutely no means by which to escape her impending encounter with the hard ground and its buried explosives. Arms flailing, she made a grab for any part of Kimmie that she could get her hands on. Unfortunately, given that the hero’s stealth-camo was still active, she could not see a single one of girl’s flaming-red hairs, let alone a limb to grab hold of. Unsurprisingly, the thought that filled her mind was a very loud, _SHIT!_

The second Kim’s brain managed to inform her of the situation, the adrenaline kicked in and her body immediately reacted. Her gaze blurred by tears and the pain that still coursed through her, she forced herself to do two things simultaneously. With her right hand, she fired the grapple at the top of the wall, while her left grabbed at the almost impossible to detect heat signature that was Shego.

Shego felt the cool touch of Kimmie’s gloved hand seize her wrist, but before she could exhale a relived, _“phew,”_ a sharp jerk shot through her arm and instead of hurtling towards the ground, she found herself soaring towards the outer wall. “Fuck!” she exclaimed when her body crashed against the cold concrete. It took her a second, but she managed to focus her gaze on the empty space above her that she knew Kimmie must be occupying. “Nice save, Princess, now get us out of here!”

Kim, who’s brain had not yet got beyond the reflex save she had just made, hurriedly tried to figure out how on earth they were going to get out of this mess. “Working on it,” she yelled back, trying to ensure her voice was only just audible over the wailing sirens. She dare not shout any louder, just in case there was a microphone anywhere that might pick up her words.

“Would you mind working on it faster?” Shego spat. “There’s a buttload of landmines beneath my ass and in case you’ve forgotten, that bit of Nerdlinger tech is on a time limit. If it gives out, I’ll probably end up holier than a bit of Swiss cheese.”

The hero ignored her rival as she frantically came up with a plan. _I can’t simply grapple back up as the second I touch that wire I’m toast again._ She glanced down at Shego. _Only one thing for it and she’s not going to like it one bit._ “Shego, you’re going to have to trust me… I’m going to launch you over the wall, then catch you.”

“Yeah, cos that doesn’t sound insane!” Shego replied incredulously. Unfortunately, despite how much she might dislike the notion of trusting Kimmie or the hero’s mad plan, she wasn’t even in a position to stop her from enacting it.”

“Just trust me,” Kim yelled. Tightening her grip on the green-skinned woman’s wrist, she activated the grapples boost-reel mode and sent the two of them rocketing upwards. With her heart in her mouth and the wind rushing through her hair, she used all of her might to launch Shego up into the air.

Like a human bullet, the villainess shot upwards above the wall and could see that the entire area surrounding the prison was bathed in a light bright enough that the terracotta dirt looked like it was basking in the sunlight. However, if Kimmie failed to catch her, it would be the last thing that she would ever see, as even if her glow were at full strength, she doubted she’d survive the fall. Rapidly she began to slow and for the briefest moment, when the forces on her body were in perfect balance, she hung in the air… then swiftly started to plummet towards the ground. “KI…”

Willing the grapple to eat up the last meter of line faster, Kim locked her eyepiece on the faint heat signature that was Shego. If she lost track of her, she would have broken the woman out of jail simply to kill her. _I won’t lose you, Shego!_ When her fingers gripped the top of the wall the hero used the momentum from the grapple to propel herself into the air and like a heat-seeking missile, launched herself on an intercept course. Activating the battle suit’s hood, she felt the material grow out of the collar and encase her head like some sort of high-tech balaclava; a feature Wade had copied over from her old stealth suit. She had just heard the green-skinned woman begin to yell, _“Kimmie!”_ when she cannoned into her and wrapped her arms around her tight. “Got you!”

Shego felt the force of Kimmie colliding with her and a pair of strong arms wrapping themselves around her. As one the pair sailed clear of the wall but were soon hurtling downwards towards the terracotta dirt and certain death. “You’d better hurry up with the rest of that plan of yours or we break our necks!” she yelled, her voice laced with an almost frantic tone; not that she’d ever admit it… assuming she survived the plummet.

“This is the plan,” Kim replied as she tightened her grip around her rival and twisted them around so that her own back became the point of impact.

“WHAT!” Shego virtually screamed. “Your going to Thelma and Louise us, rather than be caught!”

“Just trust me!” Kim replied, a part of her living on hope that the two of them would not end up like the classic film duo. With the ground now rushing up to meet them, the hero activated the battle suit’s impact mode and braced herself. Even if she succeeded, this would probably still hurt. Eyes involuntarily closing, Kim felt a sharp pain shoot through her entire body the instant she crashed into the compacted dirt. And for a moment, not even she knew if she had survived the impact.

Her own eyes screwed up tight, for she could see the ground rushing up to meet them through the invisible form of Kimmie, Shego felt a violent shock rip through her body as the hero crashed into the ground. At the exact same moment, the hero’s vice-like grip snapped open from around her torso. Winded, she struggled to gulp down air. All the while her brain not daring to believe that her rival’s crazy plan had actually worked… or had it. “Kimmie?” she cried out the second she had enough air to utter the girl’s name, unable to keep the worry from her tone.

Kim lay motionless on the dirt; not breathing. Her eyes had rolled into the back of her head and instead of a red mist of pain, she saw a multitude of swirling colours. _Oooh, pretty colours,_ she thought, as she allowed her mind to slip into unconsciousness.

Shego could not see her rival and with prison sirens still blaring all around them, nor could she hear her. However, she could feel Kimmie’s limp body beneath her and instantly knew that the girl had stopped breathing. “Shit!” she cursed and finding the hero’s shoulders, seized them and gave her a hard shake. No response. “Dammit, Kimmie, you are not dying on me!” With her open hand, she then slapped the girl across the face.

The sharp shock of the blow striking her across the cheek wrenched Kim from the icy grip of unconsciousness and her body took a loud gasping breath. At the same time, her eyes snapped open and were greeted with the sight of... well, nothing, owing to Shego’s own stealth-camo, but her brain filled in the blanks and provided her with a very pissed off expression on her rival’s face.

Beneath her, Shego felt Kimmie’s body lurch violently and could just make out the sharp sound of the girl’s gasp. She fixed the ground where the hero’s head resided with a stern expression. “Don’t you ever do something that stupid again!”

Even though her rival could not see her, a wide grin formed on Kim’s face. And despite the severity of their current situation, she could not help but feel a sense of renewed optimism about their relationship. _Heh, she was genuinely worried about me._ However, the moment was short-lived, as her brain quickly started to process the barrage of information coming to her via her eyepiece. Not only was the battle suit reporting serious damage to itself and blunt-force trauma to the entire back of her body, but also two things of more immediate concern; Shego’s stealth-camo band had less than a minute left before its power source would likely give out and she became visible and hostiles were rapidly closing in on their position.

“Shego, guards are closing in on us fast and your stealth-camo is going to give out at any moment,” Kim said firmly, her game face now well and truly back on. “We need to get out of here.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice, Kimmie,” Shego replied and scrambled to her feet. “I’ve seen enough of this place to last me a lifetime.” Even though she could not see the hero, she instinctively held out a hand to help her up. She didn’t have time to form the thought, _‘well, that’s moronic,’_ before she felt a hand take her own and the girl pull herself to her feet.

“This way,” Kim said and immediately set off in the direction of the Sloth; keeping a firm grip on Shego’s hand. Her body ached all over, despite the battle suit’s attempts to lessen the strain, but she knew she had no choice. _I can rest once we’re out of here,_ she told herself and forced herself to increase her pace.

Like before, Shego reluctantly allowed Kimmie to lead her by the hand and soon found herself moving at a sprint. From behind them and over the top of the sirens, she could hear the sound of Lieutenant Boyle bark, “fan out and search the area. She does not escape. Is that understood?” If there were any replies, they were drowned out by the loud revving of engines and the screeching of tires on the dirt. She turned her head and in the bright light of the searchlights, she could see the small army of vehicles spreading out to try and locate her. Then she saw her. Standing up in the passenger seat of an open-topped jeep, one hand gripping the top of the windscreen for support; the other directing her underlings, was Captain Brooks.

“I want both the inmate and her accomplices found and brought in **alive**!” Brooks Barked, her dominating voice rising about the wail of the sirens, roar of engines and screeching of tires.

Kim turned her head at the distinctive sound of the Captain barking her orders and could not deny that she felt an urge to turn and take the hateful woman down. While the battle suit had suffered heavy damage from the impact, she was still cloaked and could easily drag Brooks out of her jeep and give her the beatdown she well and truly deserved. That would be justice. However, to do so would be to risk Shego’s and potentially her own freedom. _It’s not worth it,_ she told herself and turned her head back in the direction of the Sloth, sending it the signal to drive towards her. All the while her left eye watching the seconds on the clock rapidly approach zero.

On hearing Captain Brook’s voice, Shego felt a strong surge of anger and the memories of the multiple humiliations she had suffered at the woman’s hands flashed through her mind. Never during an escape had the opportunity to exact vengeance on her tormentor presented itself. And even without her glow, she could take that bitch down. Only it would undoubtedly mean giving up her freedom to do so. Except it was not this notion that stayed her hand. Instead, with one last glance at the woman, she had the thought, _I might be the villain, but unlike you, I’m not a bad person._

The clock on Kim’s display hit zero with the Sloth still one-hundred yards away. She glanced at her rival but dared not say anything for fear that her voice would give away their position; which the guards had yet to discern. _Come on Wade tech, don’t fail me now._ In front of her, the car skidded to a stop and the passenger and driver doors sprung open. _Come on… just a few more seconds…_

Unable to see Kimmie’s car, which she assumed must be cloaked, Shego kept her gaze fixed upon her own arm. While she had lost track of how long the stealth-camo band had been active when they had been thrown from atop the wall, she knew she must now be on borrowed time. _I swear if this piece of Nerdlinger junk gives out on me, he’s getting a plasma ball shoved where the sun don’t shine._ Her eyes widened in horror as for a fraction of a second, she saw a flash of orange that she knew belonged to her prison jumpsuit, _shit!_ A few seconds past as Shego metaphorically held her breath and she remained invisible. Then she flickered again…

“THERE SHE IS!” Captain Brook’s bellowed. “All units, converge on my position immediately!”

Kim was mere feet from the Sloth when she heard the Captain’s roar. _SHIT!_ she cursed internally and knew that her rival had just had the same thought. Frantically, she grabbed Shego’s head and bodily shoved the woman inside the car, closed the door and leapt over the bonnet to the driver’s side. Diving inside, Kim’s foot had hit the gas pedal before her butt had even settled in the seat or the door had slammed shut.

Unable to see the outside or inside of Kimmie’s car, Shego felt more than a little disconcerted when her rival grabbed the back of her head and shoved her, like she was being arrested, inside the vehicle. Indeed, she couldn’t stop herself from beginning to yell, “what the f…” before the car’s upholstery suddenly popped into view and the door slammed shut behind her. Less than a second later, she heard a noise that could only be associated with something powering down and her body flickered back into view. At the same moment, she felt the car shoot forward and the driver’s side door close.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kim was vaguely aware that she could now see Shego, however, her gaze was fixed on the expanse of terracotta dirt that lay in front of her. _Shit, I need to get us out of here._ Her gaze took in the rear-view mirror and she could see Captain Brooks’ jeep; along with a hoard of others that were fanning out over the area in pursuit. What, if anything, they might be tracking, she did not know.

“Kimmie, I know you call this thing the Sloth, but in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve got a crazy captain and a small army in pursuit of us. Shift this thing into high gear,” Shego said as she stared out the rear window at the figure of Captain Brooks, her mind filling in the murderous expression she imagined the woman’s facial features were contorted in to.

“The Sloth’s top speed is limited while we’re cloaked,” Kim snapped, not even bothering to turn and look at her rival. “If I try to go any faster it’ll break and they’ll be able to see us… see me.”

“Yeah, well it’s not going to matter if they overtake us,” Shego fired back. “If Brooks figures out a way to pinpoint where we are, she’ll have her goons encircle us and then we’re screwed.”

“There’s no way she can track us,” Kim said defensively. “The Sloth runs completely silent when in stealth mode. It even masks the sound of the tires on the dirt **and** covers its own tracks… just don’t ask me how.” She paused for a moment, then hurriedly added, “is there any way they can track you? A tracking device or something?”

“Not as far as I’m aware. GJ has never come down atop me after I’ve broken out before and I’ve never found any trace of one when I’ve scanned myself after an escape. However, that was then, before Brooks returned and ramped up security,” Shego answered. “To be honest, I’ve never been too bothered about it. If there was anything like that inside me, my glow would see it as a foreign object and obliterate it the moment it returned.”

“Fuck,” Kim cursed, having not considered the possibility that Shego may have been injected with some sort of tracker. One eye trained on the rear-view mirror, she wracked her brain for a solution. _Ok, Possible, think, think, think._ The answer came to her and she thrust her hand into the belt pouch on her battle suit. “Here, take this,” she said quickly and held out her personal jamming device. “If there's a tracker somewhere inside you, this will jam the signal until we can find and disable it.”

A look of derision formed on Shego's face. “Nice idea, Kimmie,” she replied, her tone dripping with sarcasm, “except I can't see your frigging hand.”

“Oh!” Kim exclaimed and her cheeks turned pink; she'd forgotten to disengage the battle suit's stealth-camo. Making herself visible once more and retracting the hood, she handed the small device to her rival, then turned her attention back to the road.

Shego took the offered metallic disc and turned it over in her hand. “What’s this? Another bit of Nerdlinger tech?”

“No. I had the Tweebs cook this one up for me. It creates a personal jamming field that blocks the signal from any electronic device you might be holding; including my Kimmunicator.”

“So, you don't want Nerdlinger spying on you,” Shego replied, her gaze returning to the rear-view mirror. “They’re gaining on us. If you don't change course, Brooks will be up our ass in a minute or two.”

“On it,” Kim said and she veered the Sloth to cut a path across the line of oncoming jeeps. While not anywhere near the car's top speed, they were still travelling at a good one-hundred and twenty miles-per-hour. Eyes fixed on the final jeep; she willed her purple missile on. _Come on, come on,_ she urged. This was going to be close.

Shego’s gaze split between the jeep at the end of the column and the lead vehicle of Captain Brooks, which had stayed its present course. “You’re not going to clear that last jeep,” she then declared, her brain having eyeballed its speed and the distance they still had to cover.

“I know,” Kim replied as she flashed her rival a grin. “Just hang on, I’ve got this.” Her expression then morphed into one of steely determination. _Come on you bastard._ The second she cleared the penultimate jeep, the hero seized the handbrake and threw the sloth into a skid. Just managing to catch the car’s rear-end before it spiralled out of her control, she hit the gas pedal and shot through the narrow gap between the two jeeps; the Sloth’s wing-mirrors coming within inches of both vehicles, such was the tightness of their formation. A second, albeit unnecessary handbrake turn later and she guided the vehicle away from the column.

While the situation had been deadly serious, Shego could not help but grin as she felt the adrenaline rush that came with Kimmie’s risky manoeuvre. “Not bad, Possible. You’ve been practising, but I bet you’re still not in my league when it comes to driving.”

“Is that a challenge?” Kim asked before she could stop herself, the moment recapturing how she had felt about her rival prior to the flashpoint of their second night in Spritzers. She gave the green-skinned woman a grin and took in a steadying breath when a quick check of her mirror showed they were not being followed. _I guess at some point I must have forgiven her for what happened that night. However, where does that leave us? Because I think I still want to be her friend…_ Kim forced herself to leave the thought at that, not wanting, or at that moment in time able, to deal with any other feelings she may or may not have for the woman.

Shego heard Kimmie’s response at the same time it became apparent to her that they were now in the clear. And the twin feelings of lust and hate roused themselves inside her once more. _Urgh, she sounds just like she did that night back in Spritzers and worse yet, part of me wants to fall for it again._ The good memories from that night quickly filled her mind but were soon joined with those of when she was arrested and of watching the hero saunter of with Dr Director. _She’s the reason I ended up in jail…_ Her features formed a sour expression, in part due to her own mixed feelings, as she replied in the same frosty tone she had used back in her cell, “no. Just get us out of here.”

“Oh… ok,” Kim said, feeling somewhat deflated and turned her attention back to the road. _Well, what did you expect?_ She asked herself. _She already made it clear that she blames you for getting her arrested in the first place._ Her brain immediately protested, _but I didn’t,_ only for it to remind her that, _you have no way of proving that._ Glumly, she began plotting a course that would get them to a proper road and from there, onto the interstate that would take them back to Middleton. She may have succeeded it saving her rival from torment at the hands of Captain Brooks, but it seemed their messed-up hero/villain relationship wouldn’t be repaired so easily.

An awkward silence filled the Sloth, as overhead, helicopters swept the area in search of the car, but had no more luck than Captain Brooks and her entourage of jeeps in finding it; regardless of what different methods of scanning they tried. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to both Kim and Shego, back in cellblock D, a still incarcerated prisoner could be heard grumbling bitterly to his budget-cnscious cellmate, “mrgh, who on earth broke Shego out this time?”


	55. S213(U6): The road to...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that got a little hairy there. For those of you who doubted Kim, remember, she's the girl who can do anything, lol ;p. So, one down, three to go (yeah, I'm totally spoiling you this time around). Anyway, the title for this next chapter is taken from an instrumental track: The road to... from last year's amazing Hawkwind album All aboard the Skylark. I really like this title for this chapter, as it leaves the destination unknown, which I found to be quite fitting. Enjoy.

Picture a block of ice in a sub-zero room, where the air is bitter cold, to the point that it is motionless. Now imagine a slight change in the room, one that causes a solitary drop of water to roll from the top edge of the ice, down one side and drip onto the floor. That is perhaps the aptest description of the inside of the Sloth and what was about to transpire, as it sped down the empty highway.

For the past ten minutes, Kim and Shego had sat in deathly silence, as the prison and the small army of searching guards had disappeared from the view of both their eyes and the car’s sensors. Eventually, once Kim had got them to the safety of the interstate, she had decloaked the Sloth, allowing her to unleash the full power of the vehicle’s engine and rocket down the long road that would take them back to Colorado.

Shego stared out of the passenger window, her gaze not fixed upon anything in particular, simply trying to avoid looking in the direction of Kimmie. Yet still she could not escape the hero’s visage, the girl’s fiery-red hair and soft features partially reflected in the glass. Despite her best efforts, after it had become apparent that they had escaped from Captain Brooks and her entourage, Shego’s brain had gone into a full-on meltdown. Her thought process struggling to reconcile her dual feelings of lust and hate for her rival. On the one hand, the girl had stirred up feelings inside her that she thought she had purged a long time ago, but on the other, Kimmie had been responsible for her incarceration and all she had suffered since. Add to that the events of tonight and her metaphorical nuclear reactor had gone critical.

In the driver’s seat, Kim was forcing herself to keep her eyes trained on the road. While this should have been obligatory, given the ridiculous speed at which the Sloth was travelling, the interstate was virtually dead. That and the Tweebs had recently installed an autopilot feature. This gave her mind ample opportunity to wander. And after she had been sure she had eluded Captain Brooks and the small army that had been hunting for them, that’s exactly what it had done. The fact of the matter was, she felt torn. She’d just risked her life, or more likely her freedom, to break Shego out of jail, yet the woman had no interest in talking to her. Unfortunately, she had both thought of and feared this eventuality. It seemed that in her rival’s mind, the jailbreak was not enough to erase the initial event of her incarceration, which she had already made crystal clear she blamed on Kim.

 _She woke something inside of you… something you thought you’d long suppressed,_ a voice said inside Shego’s head. _She packed you off to jail and then sauntered off with Betty Fucking Director,_ a second countered. _She just broke you out of jail,_ the first retorted, causing the second to swiftly fire back, _only to clear her own conscience._ _You haven’t felt anything towards anyone since Danni…_

 _SHUT UP!_ Shego bellowed internally, completely sick of the plethora of thoughts and counter thoughts that had been duking it out for the past ten minutes. _I don’t want to feel anything towards anyone and I don’t care why Kimmie broke me out. I feel like crap and I just want to go home!_ … _you should at least hear her out… ARGH!_ Shego balled up her fist and hammered it against the door panel.

Several moments before the green-skinned woman’s impromptu outburst, Kim too was wrestling with her own thoughts. _Should I try to talk to her? Try to explain that I didn’t bring GJ down atop her and Drakken? …Yeah, nice idea, Kim. She’s sure to take your word for it, given how many times you’ve sent her to jail in the past. Oh, and don’t forget how you told her that you were going to beat the shit out of her and send what was left off to jail in the first instance._ Unfortunately, all of the above happened to be true. _What the hell do I say then? Hey, by the way, I’m pretty sure I'm a lesbian now, let’s make out._ Kim almost veered the Sloth off the road at the sudden manifestation of that last thought. She snuck a brief glance at Shego. _Oh god, do I actually **like** her? _That idea scared her and she suddenly felt glad that the green-skinned woman intended to leave as soon as possible.

The sound of Shego hitting her upholstery caused Kim to turn and look at her. Even in her current, somewhat dishevelled state, Kim did not fail to notice the woman’s inherent beauty. That long, luscious raven hair. Those petite lips, above which sat those piercing emerald eyes… She shuddered internally as the sight of the woman invoked the memory of what they had done back in Drakken’s volcano lair. _Get a grip of yourself, Possible. She doesn’t even want to be in the same car as you._ While she forced herself to suppress the memory, she could not escape the underlying personal reason for her actions that night. _I broke Shego out in part because I need to talk to someone about being a lesbian and that hasn’t changed. I can’t let her leave without at least trying…_

“Shego,” Kim ventured, pausing to both see if the green-skinned woman would even acknowledge her and because she’d opened her mouth before even formulating a concrete plan of action. _Great, guess I’m winging it then._

Hand throbbing slightly from the force she had put into the blow and the discovery that the door panel was heavily reinforced, Shego turned her head and forced herself to stare at Kimmie. _Damn, she’s hot…_ the thought crept into her mind before she could stop it. _I need to get away from her asap._ “What?” she asked testily.

The ice in her rival’s tone was so cold it froze Kim in her tracks and she completely forgot whatever it was she might have been about to say. _If she doesn’t want to talk to me, I can’t force her._ Instead, she found herself retreating to the relative safety of the practicalities of their current situation. At the very least, that might get the woman’s attention for a moment or two. “There’s a backpack on the backseat. It’s got a change of clothes, some money and snacks inside. It should be enough to help you get home, once I drop you off.” She forced herself to laugh slightly as she added, “I don’t think orange is the new black and green.”

Shego’s eyes followed Kimmie’s gaze to the backseat and she saw the backpack in question. However, she could not stop herself from hesitating before reaching out and snatching hold of it; another instance where she wanted to refuse the hero’s help outright, but had no choice in the matter. If she set foot out with the car in her prison garb, anyone who saw her would likely immediately put in a call to the local law enforcement; something she could definitely do without. When she yanked the backpack between the seats, she could swear she heard a ‘wah!’ sound coming from inside but paid it no heed as she lifted the flap.

“What the…” Shego exclaimed when her gaze found itself looking into an already unzipped pack and at the mess of empty snack packets and crumbs that covered a pair of blue jeans. Her eyes widened when they met with the pink face and beady black eyes of… “Ru-Ru! …how the hell…”

The naked-mole-shark gave Shego the innocent look she had become accustomed to seeing whenever she busted him doing something naughty. “Ta-da?” he said in a sweet tone that she knew was his attempt to try and get out of trouble.

Before Shego had the chance to say anything else, Kim’s gaze too fell inside the backpack. “You greedy little sod!” she exclaimed in annoyance. “Those snacks were not for you.”

True to form, Ru-Ru blew Kim a raspberry and then gave Shego one of his wide, ‘I’m innocent and cute,’ grins.

“What the hell are you doing with Kimmie?” Shego uttered, her mind still trying to recover from the shock of finding the naked-mole-shark safe and sound. She then felt a pang of guilt for both losing him in the first place and because she’d barely spared him a thought during her incarceration. Granted, she’d not been in her right mind for the bulk of the past eleven days, but it was a poor excuse. Nevertheless, she genuinely felt both happy and relieved to see him safe.

“Holliday,” Ru-Ru replied, before scuttling out of the backpack and onto her knee.

Shego turned to look at Kimmie. “Care to explain?” she demanded, though whether knowingly or not, the ice that had laced her tone had melted slightly.

Kim smiled at her rival. “He stowed away inside the belt pouch of my battle suit before Dr Director whisked me away in her chopper.”

“Yeah, he’s got a real knack for that,” Shego replied and gave the naked-mole-shark a knowing grin.

“So I heard,” Kim said airily, her gaze too travelling to the sneaky rodent-fish. While she had automatically yelled at Ru-Ru for eating his way through the snacks she’d packed for her rival’s trek home, something she had found herself becoming accustomed to doing over the past eleven days, she wanted to reach over and kiss him. His appearance could not have come at a better time. In fact, the ordeal of escaping Captain Brooks had caused her to completely forget about him. _Seeing Ru-Ru has definitely softened her slightly. Maybe there’s still a chance she’ll listen to me._ “I’ve taken good care of him,” she then added, _at least better care than I managed that time Ron left me to look after Rufus._

All Shego could do was shake her head; this latest information only making the entire situation more difficult for her to comprehend. _What the hell is Kimmie playing at?_ “What, so you send me to jail but decide to look after my…” she paused mid-sentence as she tried to quantify what exactly Ru-Ru was to her. Eventually, the only apt word stuck in her throat slightly, “…my friend. What the fuck, Kimmie?”

Kim took a deep breath, this was it; Shego had invited an explanation. If she could make the woman understand what had happened, maybe she could repair the damage enough that she would be willing to talk about ‘other’ things with her. “Shego, I know what you think happened back at Drakken’s lair, but I didn’t bring Global Justice down atop you, I swear it.”

Shego snorted upon hearing her rival’s words. “Yeah, right, Kimmie, and Drakken's going to take over the world next time. Do you really expect me to buy that bullshit?”

As expected, Kim’s initial attempt at telling the truth had been met with scorn. However, she had no intention of giving up. “It’s true, Shego. How do you think they managed to get there before you even managed to escape the lair? They were already on their way before I even got there.”

“Geeze, I wonder why that might have been. Hmm, let me think,” Shego paused briefly, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “I’m going to beat the crap out of you and send what’s left to jail,” she then said in an imitation of the hero’s own angry tone from the day in question. “Sound familiar, Kimmie?”

“I know that’s what I said and I'm sorry. But I was so angry with you that day and wanted to hurt you as much as possible,” Kim replied in exasperation, more at herself and her own stupidity than her rival’s refusal to listen. She sighed, “look, when I said that, sending you to jail was an afterthought. Simply something that I knew would make you suffer long after I’d finished beating the crap out of you…” she lowered her head, “…that’s what I’d been obsessed with. I was so consumed by that single thought that calling GJ never even crossed my mind. Please… you have to believe me.”

While Shego knew that the girl was telling the truth about how her anger had driven her to the point she’d wanted to hurt her, having lived through a period of similar anger in her teenage years, she simply could not forget the pain, humiliation and hollowness she’d been forced to endure by Captain Brooks and the GJ serum. “Why the hell should I, Princess? I stupidly told you what happens to me when I get arrested and you purposefully used it against me,” she spat viciously, the recent memories having caused her temper to fray.”

“Please, Shego,” Kim pleaded, “you have to believe me…” _I need you to believe me._ “…it was Wade who called GJ. He realised that my anger had consumed me and was worried about me, so he passed the intel he had on to GJ in the hope they would be able to save me from myself.”

“Nice try, Princess, blame the Nerdlinger,” the green-skinned woman scoffed. However, before she could say anything else, a third voice spoke.

“Truth,” Ru-Ru said firmly and drew the gazes of both women onto him.

“What did you say?” Shego asked, locking onto his beady black eyes with her emerald greens.

“Truth,” the naked-mole-shark reiterated. “Nerdlinger guilty.”

A look of joyous relief spread across Kim’s face and she again felt the need to kiss the sneaky rodent-fish. “Of course, you were eavesdropping on my conversation with Wade; when he told me what he did,” she exclaimed.

Shego looked between Ru-Ru and Kimmie. “Is that true? Was it really Nerdlinger who called GJ?”

“Yes,” Kim said reiterated. She then looked Shego directly in those piercing eyes. “However, I’m so sorry for my part in it. Wade was only trying to protect me. If I’d not lost control of myself, he would have left me alone to deal with you and Drakken.”

Shego turned again to stare at the naked-mole-shark on her knee.

Ru-Ru nodded his head emphatically, “uh-hu, uh-hu.” He then gave both of them a wide grin. “Princess missed you.”

A look of horror spread across Kim’s face at the exact moment the corners of Shego’s lips curled upwards in amusement.

“So, you missed me, Princess,” the green-skinned woman said, the last of the ice that had clung to her tone having just been melted by a healthy dose of hot sass. _Now, that is interesting._

“I…” Kim stammered as her mouth fell open. When she failed to come up with words to refute the claim, she rounded on Ru-Ru. “You little shit!”

The naked-mole-shark blew another raspberry in Kim’s direction and then began rolling around Shego’s lap in a fit of hysterics at the look of indignation that formed on the hero’s face.

“Ru-Ru, it’s not polite for you to laugh at Kimmie like that,” Shego said sternly, however, the second she had his attention, she quickly added, “I’ll backdate your cheese ration eleven days when we get home if you have more of her juicy secrets to share.”

Kim watched in horror as the naked-mole-shark’s beady black eyes lit up. _Aww crap! I never even thought about what that little shit might be able to tell Shego once I reunited them. Urgh, this could be so embarrassing and is so the drama!_ However, as she had come to expect from the opportunistic sod, Ru-Ru knew he had something of value and so immediately started to haggle.

“One month,” the naked-mole-shark countered.

“Two weeks’ worth,” Shego said firmly.

“Three!”

Shego looked at him pointedly, “two weeks and that’s your lot.”

“Will the two of you stop bartering the secrets of my private life!” Kim yelled indignantly. _God, if he knows I sometimes still sleep with Pandaroo and tells her, I’ll never live it down… and I’ll skin him!_

“My, my, Kimmie, scared of what juicy dirt he might have on you?” Shego said and gave the hero a wolfish grin. She then held out a finger towards Ru-Ru, who promptly took hold of it and shook it.

“Argh! Kim exclaimed as she watched her secrets being sold for the meagre price of two weeks’ worth of cheese. She then lightly hit her head off of the steering wheel. “This is not happening.”

“Well, don’t blame us, Kimmie. Remember, you were the one who just broke me out of prison,” Shego said, purposefully adding insult in injury.

With little else to lose and with her rival’s anger seemingly dissipated, Kim decided to risk a segue, “if you want to find out more about me, you could simply ask me over a drink.”

Shego’s ears pricked up at that remark. _Is that simply an offhanded comment, or is she asking me out again?_ The memory of how things had ended between them the last time they’d gone out for a drink made itself known and caused her to pause. While she couldn’t deny the lust she felt for the girl, that last time had started because of a simple misunderstanding and wound up becoming a train wreck. _I’m not going down that road again without first knowing her intentions. Hell, I don’t even know if she’s accepted that she’s a lesbian yet. Not to mention I still have a slight urge to beat the crap out of her._ With that in mind, Shego remained reserved in her reply, “careful, Kimmie, remember how that one ended last time.”

Kim ran the comment through her mind multiple times. _Ok, while she’s not outright rejecting the idea that we go for a drink, she’s definitely sending me a warning; don’t fuck with me again. I’ll need to make my intentions crystal clear if/when I ask her to meet me for a drink…_ She thought about how she might possibly phrase her desire, only to quickly discover that she did not know what exactly it was that she wanted. Aside for the obvious; to talk about how she went about being a lesbian, Kim couldn’t say whether she simply wanted one last ‘night with Miss Go’, to make a second attempt at trying to be her friend or a genuine date.

Kim stared out of the windscreen as she guided the Sloth past only the second car they’d encountered that was going their way. Once back in their lane, she allowed her gaze to linger. They were still a good two and a half hours away from Middleton. _Maybe I don’t need to ask her out for a drink yet; if at all. I’ve got her here and she seems willing to talk to me now. Why don’t I just tell her that I think I’m a lesbian and ask if she’ll explain some things to me?_ She motioned to turn her head, but never got the chance to even utter the green-skinned woman’s name.

Having taken a breath in through her nose, Shego both heard and felt the large wad of snot shift in the upper region of her nasal passageways. She had just enough time to think, uh _-oh!_ before she let out a violent sneeze and the snot began to stream out of both nostrils. _URGH!_

The sound of Shego’s sneeze caught Kim by surprise, _crap, I forgot that she’s sick._ On seeing the snot begin to leak from her rival’s nose, she reached over and fished around inside the glovebox for a pack of tissues. “Here,” she said warmly and held them out.

Without hesitation, Shego took the packet, ripped it open and buried her nose in the first tissue she could wrestle out of it. She burnt through three before she managed to regain some measure of control over the flow. It seemed the reprieve she’d had during the escape, when the adrenaline had been flowing and her mind had been too busy to pay attention to her nose, had come to an end. _Great, guess I’m back to being a walking snotgun._

Having not been paying any attention, Shego had simply dropped each tissue into her lap once it had become full, completely forgetting about its current occupant. As a result, Ru-Ru let out a loud, “yuck!” when the first one landed on his head and he quickly cast it aside. This was followed by, “yikes!” when he saw the second one fall.

The hero glanced down at the naked-mole-shark as he dived from Shego’s knee and onto her own. “Oh no you don’t,” she declared and swiftly grabbed him by the fin. “You just sold whatever secrets you might know about me for some cheese, so you can just go back and deal with Shego’s icky snot-filled tissues. And with a flick of her wrist, she sent Ru-Ru straight back into the firing line.

“Wahh!” the naked-mole-shark cried as he tumbled back into Shego’s lap, just in time for another tissue to land on his head. Wrestling himself out from underneath it, he began shaking one of his small fists in Kim’s direction and uttered a string of unintelligible curses.

Kim started to laugh and then turned her attention to Shego. “How long have you been sick?” she asked, feeling a slight sense of worry. _If she’s anything like me and I know she is, she’ll try and hide how unwell she’s feeling._

“Since this morning,” Shego replied and blew her nose into tissue number four. Then, without thinking, added, “Captain Brooks tossed me into a freezing cold solitary confinement cell for four days.”

“Freezing cold!” Kim said in alarm. She knew her rival had been in solitary confinement for four days, but Brooks had neglected to tell her that she’d been torturing Shego by lowering the temperature. Her knuckles turned white inside her gloves and she felt an urge to turn the Sloth around and go back to give the Captain the beating she’d felt compelled to during the escape. She forced herself to take a calming breath. _Shego’s free now, that’s all that matters._

“Yeah, Brooks must have figured out that I hate the cold,” Shego said bitterly. She then reached inside the backpack and pulled out the crumb covered blue jeans, along with a red t-shirt, a blue and white checked shirt, matching pale pink underwear, white sports socks and a pair of black Converse; unsurprisingly all designer labels. She recognised the shirt as being the one Kimmie had worn on their ‘non-date’ in Spritzers. _Is this a coincidence or is she trying to tell me something? Or am I just being an idiot and looking for something that isn’t there?_ She then withdrew a bar of chocolate, the one snack it seemed Ru-Ru had not gotten the chance to scoff. “Here, take this and go enjoy yourself in the backseat,” she said and held the candy bar out to the naked-mole-shark.

Ru-Ru’s eyes lit up and he licked his lips, “mmm, yum-yum.” He then grabbed his prize and promptly did as he was told and scuttled off to the backseat to devour it.

Once the naked-mole-shark had left her knee, Shego unclipped her seatbelt, kicked off her shoes and proceeded to slip out of her orange jumpsuit. Her white t-shirt, bra and unflattering granny panties soon joined it on the floor; along with the thin socks. She grimaced at the cotton panties, _Pink is so not my colour,_ but nevertheless pulled both them and the jeans on. While the elastic on the former had to stretch somewhat to accommodate her backside, the latter fit her perfectly, meaning they were probably slightly loose on their owner. She had a similar thought about the bra’s colour too, however, stopped to stare at it for a moment, _yeah, aint no way my melons are fitting inside one of Kimmie’s bras._ She gave half a thought to putting her prison one back on, but quickly rejected it on the grounds she wanted rid of everything related to that hell-hole. Besides, by the looks of it, the red cotton t-shirt Kimmie had provided for her would be softer on her nipples than the prison-issue bra had been. Captain Brooks having been of the mindset that every single detail of the inmates lives should remind them that they were being punished. Tossing the pale-pink bra onto the floor, she pulled on the t-shirt. It was a somewhat tight fit over her breasts and resulted in about an inch of her midriff being left exposed, a somewhat ironic state of affairs, given the hero’s perchance for that particular look. She then pulled the socks on, slid her feet inside the Converse and laced them up. _Even though these are Kimmie’s clothes and this t-shirt is more than a little snug, it still feels good to wear something other than those scratchy jumpsuits._

While the polite thing to do would have been to avert her gaze completely, Kim could not help but sneak a peek at her rival as she changed. However, her cheeks suddenly burned bright red on the realisation that Shego had not been wearing a bra. O _h my god, she looks divine!_ Kim hurriedly averted her gaze as she felt a spark ignite inside her and immediately recognised it as the same one she had experienced inside the volcano lair after her lips had first touched those of her rival’s. _Shit… I think I’m genuinely attracted to her… surely it’s just because she’s the first woman I’ve seen in only their panties since I realised I like girls…_

Given her head felt like it had been taxidermized, Shego’s normally sharp perception was dulled somewhat and she completely missed the fact that her rival had been checking her out while she changed. However, once she pulled on the shirt and refastened her seatbelt, a thought occurred to her. “Kimmie,” she asked as the question finished forming in her mind, “when you saw me yesterday, I was completely out of it and almost non-responsive. What did you intend to do with me if I had still been like that tonight?”

It was only on hearing the question, that Kim realised that she hadn’t given any prior thought to it. While she had considered the worst-case scenario when it came to getting her rival from her cell to the Sloth, she’d only planned for the best-case one from that point on. “Umm,” she replied stupidly.

An amused smirk formed on Shego’s lips as she said, “apart from shoving some stuff into a bag, you didn’t give one iota of thought towards what you were going to do with me once you got me to your car, did you?”

Kim felt her cheeks begin to burn under the intensity of her rival’s piercing stare. Eventually, when she could stand it no longer, she blurted out, “ok, fine, I was too concerned with just getting you out of there that I didn’t think about what I was going to do afterwards.” _And with talking to you about my sexuality._

“Well, it looks like you got lucky in that I can walk by myself. Otherwise, you might have had to take me home with you,” Shego replied and let out a light laugh, followed by a loud cough that lasted far too long for her liking. When it had ended, she became acutely aware of the fact that her throat felt scratchy. _Crap, I bet that cough’s not just a one-time deal. Guess I’ve got more than just a cold._

Kim listened to the green-skinned woman cough and it immediately reminded her of the one she herself had suffered from a few weeks prior. _Uh-oh! She’s not just got a cold._ She stared at her rival with concern and once she had finally finished coughing, asked, “Shego, where is home for you and how do you want to get there?” _From my recent experience, she needs to go home and go to bed asap._ “Do you want me to drop you off at Dr Drakken’s lair?”

Shego burst out laughing, but it quickly became another cough. With the adrenaline well and truly gone, she knew she was now at the mercy of her illness. _Urgh, I need to get to bed. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen any time soon._ When she could eventually see straight again, she found Kimmie holding a bottle of water out to her and saw the concern on the hero’s face. _Great, now she’s feeling sorry for me._ Nevertheless, she gratefully took the bottle, unscrewed the cap and took a long drink, before saying, “I stopped living in Drakken’s lairs almost three years ago.”

“How come?” Kim asked with interest.

“One, that old Caribbean lair of his wasn’t exactly the most hospitable place in the world and two, I was stuck with Drakken as a roommate,” Shego replied.

“I can see the problem with that,” Kim laughed. “So, where do you stay now?” she then inquired, not unaware that the mood between them now almost felt like it had during their two nights in Spritzers. “Somewhere near Middleton, obviously.” _…damn, I was so angry at her after that ‘non-date’ that I forgot how much fun we’d had. And even if she doesn’t feel the same, I still want to be her friend._

“That’s as much as you need to know, Princess,” Shego said, while her tone was still light, her gaze conveyed the fact that she had no intention of elaborating further.

 _Ok, so she doesn’t want me to know where she lives. I suppose that makes sense,_ Kim thought. _What self-respecting supervillain would want me knowing where to stop by for tea. However, that begs the question,_ “where do you want me to take you then?” Her brain then also came up with a second question which she chose not to voice, _and why do you live so close to Middleton?_

Shego blew her nose again and then wedged some wads of tissue up her nostrils. “There’s a truck stop about thirty miles outside of Middleton, you can drop me off there and I’ll walk the rest of the way.”

Kim knew the place and it immediately set off alarm bells inside her head. _There’s no residential area closer to that truck stop than Middleton itself. She can’t walk thirty-plus miles in her condition!_ “Shego,” she began slowly, trying to mask her concern, “just how far will you need to walk to get home from there?”

 _Fifteen miles, but that’s not for you to know, Princess. I’m not narrowing down the location of my house that much for you._ “Far enough,” Shego replied curtly. _And I am not relishing it. In my current state, it’ll take me hours to get home. Maybe I can try and hitch a ride with some trucker._

Hearing this response was enough to tell Kim that Shego intended to follow in her own footsteps and do something downright idiotic. _If she walks any distance in her condition, all she’s going to do is aggravate it. She needs bed rest and possibly some antibiotics. I can’t let her do something so stupid._ It was on having that thought that she realised the irony of the situation. Her rival would probably fight her tooth and nail on the matter, resulting in herself forcing the issue… _just like mom did with me..._ With difficulty, Kim set the hypocrisy of the situation aside to be dealt with later. “Shego, I can’t let you walk home in your current state. So, either you have to let me drop you off at home…” she paused, not quite believing that she was about to say,” …or you come home with me.”

Shego started to laugh, but one look at those olive-green eyes told her that Kimmie was not yanking her chain. “Wait, you’re serious?” she asked but did not need to hear the answer. Before the hero could reply, she added, “you are not driving me home.”

“Then I guess you’re coming home with me then,” Kim said firmly. “You can get some sleep, have some breakfast and then I’ll call in a favour or pay for you to take a cab straight home.”

The green-skinned woman locked gazes with her rival and glared at her with those piercing emerald eyes of hers, however, the hero’s olive-greens did not buckle one millimetre. “I am **not** bunking with **you** tonight.”

“Shego, you’re sick and need rest. I can’t let you walk god knows how many miles before you get home. It’s idiotic and all you’ll do is make yourself worse,” Kim said, her gaze unwavering. She then added slowly, “…take it from someone who recently did the idiotic thing and wound up stuck at their parents’ house for two whole weeks until they had fully recovered.”

While Kimmie stopped talking there, her gaze wordlessly added, _“don’t fight me on this. Not only are you sick and without your glow, but you're stuck inside my car and even if you do escape, you don’t stand a chance against me. Oh, and in case you missed it, I’m also wearing my battle suit.”_ The prospect of spending the night, or to be more exact, morning, at Kimmie’s place only felt a little less abhorrent than going back to cellblock D. Unfortunately, Shego knew she had no choice in the matter. Either she did so willingly or suffered the humiliation of having the hero use whatever means were at her disposal to restrain her. She chose the former. “Fine, Princess, you win. I’ll crash at your place for the rest of the night, but after breakfast, I’m going home.”

While she let out a light chuckle at her rival’s indignation, Kim could not ignore the slight feeling of relief. “At least you’re taking this with more dignity than I did,” she said, hoping to lighten the green-skinned woman’s now soured mood. “After you beat me up and my mom got me home, she slapped one of the Tweebs inventions on my wrist, which activated the house security system whenever I went within four feet of any of the doors or windows. It then acted like a shock collar when my mom let me go out on a walk with her.”

Even though she felt infuriated with her rival, Shego couldn’t help but laugh at the story. _I can just imagine the look on her face when her mom did that to her._ “Did she also buy you a collar with a little tag on it that read Kimmie?” she asked, before turning her tone serious, “try to pull a stunt like that on me and I’ll turn your home into a blazing green inferno.”

It was Kim’s turn to laugh, even though it was slightly unnerving that Shego had come up with the exact same joke about the collar with the Kimmie tag that she herself had during her incarceration, albeit it had been no laughing matter for her at the time. She chose to ignore it and instead replied to the woman’s second point, “how do you plan to do that?” She left the question at that, managing to stop herself before she directly mentioned the fact that her rival currently lacked her signature green glow, knowing that it would be a touchy subject.

“I’ll rip the copper wiring out of your walls and add it to some homemade fireworks,” Shego replied with a grin. _However, if that’s not good enough for you, I’ll come back a couple of days later and do it for real._

Kim laughed again, knowing from high school chemistry that copper burned green. “I’d say I don’t come over to your place and trash it, but we both know that’s a lie.”

“And I already told you that I ditched Drakken as a roomie like a mouldy turd.” When they both laughed, the nature of their interaction became apparent to Shego too. _Damn, I forgot that Kimmie is actually fun to hang out with. But I don’t do friends…_ Her gaze lingered on the hero’s smile and those warm olive-green eyes that were just downright gorgeous. _…worse yet, she’s both sexy and cute and I know it **and** I still want to sleep with her. Not to mention my instincts tell me she wants to ask me out for another drink… I just don’t know her motive yet… or if I can say yes. _Shego took another drink as a way to force herself to stop staring at Kimmie. _Urgh, I don’t have the headspace to deal with this right now. I just want to go to sleep._ Reaching down the side of her seat, she pulled the lever to recline the back and lay down on her side; facing the window. “Wake me when we get to Middleton,” she said and closed her eyes. While she did not expect she’d sleep, Shego needed to distance herself from the girl before she found herself tumbling down the metaphorical rabbit hole.

“I will,” Kim replied, managing to hide her disappointment that the conversation had come to an end. _Damn, I wanted to keep talking to her… to tell her that I think I’m a lesbian now._ She picked up a bottle of water of her own and took a drink. _Ok, this isn’t a disaster. In fact, far from it. We’ve cleared the air regarding her incarceration and she’s talking to me in much the same way she did during our two nights in Spritzers. In hindsight, I couldn’t have asked for things to go any better. Yes, I want to talk to her about my sexuality, but that can wait. Heh, I can talk to her about it over breakfa…_ Kim’s mind came crashing to a halt as the situation of her own making finally dawned on her. _Holly crap, I’m taking Shego back to my apartment and to stay the night!_ Her heart rate kicked up two notches and she had to force her breathing not to spiral out of control. _Ok, Kim, get a grip of yourself. You're doing this purely because she’s sick and it would be very bad for her to walk for hours on end to get home… I’m going to have Shego sleeping in my apartment!!!_ That was it, her control slipped and she started to hyperventilate.

A thin smile formed on Shego’s lips as she listened to Kimmie’s breathing spiral out of control. _Heh, I bet she’s just realised what exactly she’s done by insisting I come and stay the night with her._ She laughed internally, s _erves you right for being so difficult, Princess._

It took several moments for Kim to take in a proper breath. When she finally managed to regain control over her body, it did nothing to abate her frenzied mind. _I’m going to have Shego staying the night! S_ he tried to take a calming breath, followed by a drink of water. _Get a grip, Kim. This is no different to when she was staying with you as Miss Go._ That thought didn’t help. _She’s not Miss Go, she’s Shego! It’s completely different! She’s a supervillain and I’m a hero; her nemesis. She’ll probably try to put a poisonous spider or a scorpion in my bed!_ Kim shook her head at that notion and quickly had to admit that she had taken the issue way too far. One, Shego did not have either of those things and two, she knew the woman would never finish her off in such an underhanded way. It was at that moment, at having actually thought about the idea, that Kim finally came to a realisation that she should have had a long time ago, _she’d never finish me off, even after beating me in a fair fight… I’m too much fun for her._ A small smile formed on her face as she glanced over at the green-skinned woman. _You enjoy spending time with me, don’t you, Shego. I just need to be persistent in order to make you realise that you don’t have to limit it to when I show up to stop Drakken._

With the optimism her rival had snuffed out at the end of their ‘non-date’ renewed, Kim turned her attention back to the long road that would take them back to Middleton. Meanwhile, Shego lay in the passenger seat, unable to hide from the fact that she too wished for something more between them. Both women also knew that at some point, one whopper of an internalised argument awaited them over the issue. However, that would come in due course. While both knew the destination at the end of the physical road they were on, the metaphorical one still eluded them. But that was ok. For after having driven the car off a cliff several weeks ago, Kim and Shego were finally back on the road to… 


	56. S214(U6): After the ordeal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, halfway home, metaphorically speaking, given Kim and Shego are back in Middleton at the very start of the chapter, lol. For this chapter title, I've used the name of another instrumental piece; After the ordeal, this time from Genesis' Selling England by the pound album. So, let's get on with it.

_“…Shego…”_

Shego lay on her side and tried to roll away from the voice as she let out a disgruntled, “mrgh.”

_“…Shego…”_

She heard her name again and pulled covers that existed only in her dream over her head as she once more grunted, “mrgh!”

A hand reached out and shook the green-skinned woman by the shoulder. “Shego.”

Upon realising that her grunts had done nothing to deter her would be waker, in a sleepy, dazed voice, Shego replied, “I don’t want to get up yet, Danni.” However, she was now awake enough to know that she felt like utter crap.

Kim’s hand briefly recoiled from her rival’s shoulder on hearing the name. _Danni? Who on earth is Danni?_ She made a mental note to ask the woman over breakfast, however, for now, “Shego!” she said loudly and gave the villainess another shake.

Shego turned and wearily opened her eyes. In the brief haze that still fogged her tired mind, she saw long tresses of blonde hair framing a face that held a pair of icy-blue eyes. “I feel like hell, Danni, leave me alone.

Kim chuckled slightly and replied playfully, “no, Kimmie.”

At the sound of the hero saying her own name, Shego violently jerked back to full consciousness. The blonde hair and icy-blue eyes immediately vanished and she found herself confronted by fiery-red locks and olive-greens. “The hell, Kimmie,” she said as she sucked in a mouthful of air.

The hero gave her rival a warm, albeit slightly tired smile; it was just after four in the morning. “We’re back in Middleton.”

“Great,” Shego replied, her tone slightly sarcastic. “Urgh, I feel like hell,” she then added and promptly broke out into a coughing fit.

“Yeah, you just told me. I know the feeling all too well,” Kim said sympathetically and offered the green-skinned woman a bottle of water. Before she could help herself, she then asked, “so, who’s Danni?”

Shego, whose hand had just taken the bottle of water froze and her eyes widened in horror. “What did you just say,” she asked, even though she had heard her rival perfectly well.

“You called me Danni twice while I was trying to wake you,” Kim replied, however, she could already sense that she should have kept her mouth shut and pretended like nothing had happened.

“She’s no one,” Shego snapped bitterly and quickly busied herself with taking a drink of water. _Great, I haven’t dreamed about Danni in a very long time and the one time I do it has to be while I’m asleep in Kimmie’s car. Will I ever be rid of her?_

 _Which means she’s definitely someone,_ Kim thought. Other than she had once been a member of Team Go, had gone to college to get a degree in child development and the other scant details she had found out during their two nights in Spritzers, the rest of Shego’s past, prior to their first encounter during the explosive robotic tick debacle, remained a complete mystery to Kim. _Given how she’s just reacted and the fact it seemed normal for this girl called Danni to be waking her, I’m willing to bet she’s someone of importance. An old girlfriend perhaps?_ However, Kim knew better than to pry further tonight. “Let’s get upstairs. I think we could both use some sleep.”

“I was sleeping,” Shego said curtly, as she sat up. She then cast her gaze onto the backseat, where Ru-Ru lay asleep. “Do we flip a coin to see who has to try and move him?”

Kim laughed, “no way. That little sod’s sunk his teeth into me more than enough times already. Besides, he’s your pet.”

Picking Kimmie’s backpack up off the floor, Shego reached over into the back seats and set it down beside the sleeping naked-mole-shark. Deftly, she plucked him up by the fin and deposited him inside. She then delicately pulled the bag back through into the front seats.

At the same time as her rival was ensuring a narky Ru-Ru did not try and take a chunk out of her fingers, Kim opened her door and climbed out of the Sloth. On her way towards the building, she’d hacked its security system and fed all the CCTV cameras a loop of the past few minutes. Hopefully, given it was the middle of the night, they’d make it up to her apartment without encountering a soul. Coupled with the hologram that had sat in place of her car all night, there would be no evidence that she’d even left her apartment, let alone returned with the countries once more most wanted supervillain.

Shego too climbed out of the car. She was about to close the door when her eyes caught sight of her prison uniform, _shit I almost forgot about that stupid letter. The last thing I need is for Kimmie to find it and decide to read it._ She reached back inside and plucked it from her jumpsuit and stuffed it into the back pocket of her jeans. _Good riddance to bad rubbish,_ she then thought as she slammed the door shut on her prison attire. It had been two and a half years since her previous stint in jail, her longest since she’d first been arrested. Hopefully, it would be even longer before she was forced to don orange again.

“The elevator’s this way,” Kim said as she locked the car and pointed towards a pair of metal doors.

Ru-Ru still sleeping inside the backpack and a tissue held under her once more running nostrils, Shego followed Kimmie over to the elevator, let her rival press the call button and stepped inside when the doors slid open.

Kim smiled to herself on seeing that the carriage was empty and stepped inside. _Unless I get super unlucky and someone has just entered the building at street level, we’ll get upstairs and no-one will be any the wiser._ While she wanted to put her desire for Shego’s presence to go undetected purely down to the woman’s status as a wanted supervillain, part of her recognised the feeling as being akin to the few times she had snuck Josh Mankey in and out of the Possible residence without her dad finding out.

The elevator doors closed and the carriage made no stops on its way up to the top floor. When Shego stepped out and saw only one door on the short hallway, she knew Kimmie lived in the penthouse. _Looks like someone’s making good use of all that money they’re raking in. However, in fairness, I’d do the same in her position._ Indeed, had it not been for the fact that she had designed her own home and either had or could easily acquire everything else she wanted, she might have felt a little jealous of how much she suspected Kimmie made in a month and maybe even reconsidered her line of employment. However, three years ago, when she’d finally got the house built, decorated and furnished, she’d reached a strange level of contentment with her life that had only started to wane with her more recent boredom.

Kim opened the door and ushered her rival inside, now feeling strangely calm about the prospect of having the woman stay the night. Perhaps her apprehension had run dry around about the time she’d been convinced she’d wake up to find a poisonous spider or scorpion in her bed. “Come on in.”

Upon stepping through the door into Kimmie’s apartment, two things became abundantly clear to Shego. First, her assessment of the fiery-haired vixen’s use of her not inconsiderate finances had been dead on and second, Kimmie and herself had similar tastes when it came to interior design. Both points evidenced by the living room layout, sofa style, the CD player she instantly recognised as a Bang & Olufsen Overture; she had one in her own bedroom and the banana inspired house phone, which she recalled came from the same company. _Great,_ she sighed internally, _more things we have in common. Why is it the more I find out about her, the harder it is to dislike her?_

“Do you want anything before going to bed, maybe a hot drink?” Kim asked as she closed the door and locked it behind her.

Shego heard the multiple locks click into place and had a bad feeling that in her current state, she would not be leaving without Kimmie’s say so. “I’ll take a mug of hot orange juice if you’ve got any,” she said in response to the asked question, then added, “just so we’re clear, I’m leaving after I’ve had some sleep.”

“And breakfast,” Kim said with a grin before she headed into the kitchen. “Have a seat and I’ll go boil the kettle.”

Shego rolled her eyes, “fine. But don’t even think about getting your mom to come over to have a look at me.” She then placed a still sleeping Ru-Ru on the sofa and sat down beside him.

“I’m not that cruel,” Kim laughed and proceeded to fill and boil the kettle. _However, if your cough gets a lot worse overnight, I might not have a choice._ She shuddered at the memory of her mother injecting her in the backside with antibiotics morning and night for days on end during her incarceration within the Possible residence. _Only how on earth I’d explain how you miraculously managed to escape from jail and end up in my apartment, I don’t know. That and I don’t particularly want to talk to mom right now._ She found a bottle of orange squash in a cupboard, poured some into two mugs, topped them up with hot water, then took them over to the sofa. “Here,” she said and handed one to the green-skinned woman. _You really don’t look well._

“Thanks, Princess,” Shego replied and took the offered beverage. With her ability to use her glow still limited to a small fifteen-second burst around one hand, she needed to blow on it before she could drink it; her heat resilience strongly tied to it. _Glad this is one of the last times I’ll need to do this._

With the potential flashpoint that had been Danni now seemingly forgotten, Kim began to relax. “I keep the bed in the spare room made up in case…” she paused mid-sentence, upon realising the sad reality that Shego would be the first person to use the spare room since she moved in. “…well, I just keep it made.”

Even in her current state, Shego could detect the sadness in Kimmie’s tone and suspected that the hero had just become privy to an unhappy truth. _She’s never had anyone stay over. Unfortunately, that’s the cost of the lives we chose; you quickly lose any and all connection with almost everyone you know. Not to mention she lost her best friend the same night she broke up with the buffoon._ “If it doesn’t feel like I’m lying on lumpy concrete and I don’t have to put up with Bonnie’s snoring, it’ll be just fine.”

The comment helped bring Kim out of her saddened state and she let out a light laugh, “you too? I had to put up with her at cheer camp once, but at least that was only for a long weekend.”

“Yeah, but I was either not in my right mind or in solitary confinement for the most part, so escaped the worst of it” Shego replied and took a sip of her hot orange juice; it hurt slightly to swallow. _Guess it’s probably safe to add a sore throat to my list of symptoms._

Kim had to resist the urge to fire off a barrage of questions pertaining to how her rival had been treated while in prison and the particulars of what it was like for her not to have her glow. From what she already knew, she doubted Shego would wish to talk about her incarceration and the green-skinned woman had made it clear during their second night in Spritzers that the subject of what the GJ serum did to her was not something she wished to discuss. Kim took a drink from her mug in order to prevent an ill-advised question escaping from her lips. However, in the end, she couldn’t resist skirting the edge of the subject slightly, “was that a result of the GJ serum?”

A scowl formed on Shego’s face, but she bit back a harsh remark that would have put an end to the subject. _There’s little point denying it now, not after she saw me at my lowest yesterday._ “Yes,” she replied bitterly. “The first time I properly felt like myself since the volcano lair was when I woke up at about this time last night,” _however, there’s no way I’m telling you what helped me come back to myself._

“Wow…” Kim breathed, _I’ve only had a day or two at a time when I’ve not been in my right mind and that’s been because mom has had me doped up on painkillers._ “I guess it sucks that you’re now sick.”

Shego gave the hero a knowing smile and took another mouthful of her beverage. “I’ll take a short illness and freedom over feeling perfectly well but still being in the slammer.” She then locked onto Kim’s gaze, but her tired state greatly reduced the effectiveness of her stare. “You risked your reputation, career and probably your freedom to bust me out tonight, Princess, and I’m not buying that your conscience got the better of you. So, I want to know the full reason why.”

Even though her rival’s normally piercing stare had been diluted by tiredness, Kim still awkwardly bit her lip and averted her gaze. She took a couple of sips from her mug, but when a stolen glance revealed that Shego was still staring at her, she realised she had to say something, “if you wait until breakfast, I promise I’ll tell you everything.”

Knowing that there had to be a fairly complex explanation for why Kim Possible; world hero had broken her out of jail, Shego chose to acquiesce to the request. “Ok, Kimmie, have it your way. But remember, there’s no forfeit bottle for you to drink from if you find yourself not wanting to answer a question.”

Kim laughed and perhaps due to how tired she was, accidentally said, “we can save that for our next night in Spritzers.” The moment she heard the words leave her own lips; she clapped a hand over her mouth. _Shit! Way to blow it, Possible! Now she knows for certain that I want to ask her out for another drink, but I’ve given her zero indication as to what I want it to be. Even I don’t know that. Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

Shego heard the comment and watched as Kimmie hurriedly clapped a gloved hand over her own mouth. _Well, that answers that; she does want to go out for another drink with me._ While normally she would have made her rival uncomfortable with some sassy comment, for once, she chose to restrain herself. “Why don’t we put that on the breakfast menu too,” she said, _because I have no idea whether or not I want to say yes yet and am too tired to sit and thrash it out tonight._ With that, Shego stood up from the couch. “Come on, you can show me that spare room of yours and where the bathroom is. Also, do you have any more of those balm tissues? I think I’m going to need them.”

For a brief moment, Kim had seen the guillotine blade, or should that be the green plasma ball, dangling above her neck and fully expected it to take her head clean off her shoulders. However, when she heard Shego’s suggestion, a wave of relief crashed over her. _I cannot believe I got away with that… I can’t believe that she’s willing to consider us going out again._ When the green-skinned woman stood up, she followed suit. “The spare room’s through that door there,” she pointed to a door in the far corner; past the kitchen, “and the bathrooms this way,” she beckoned Shego to follow her. “I’ll let you use it while I go get you some pyjamas and find you some more tissues.”

Shego followed Kimmie to a short hallway and then entered through the door indicated to her. Inside she found a fully equipped bathroom and having had nothing but showers since moving into the volcano lair, felt a strong desire for a long soak in the tub. _It’s always the same when I get out of jail. I’ll probably do that when I go home, after I…_ the thought died in her mind when she broke out into another coughing fit.

Kim left Shego to use the bathroom and headed for her bedroom. Going into her wardrobe, she withdrew two clean sets of pyjamas; her favourite lilac set for herself and a sky-blue pair for Shego; she did not have any that were green or black. Depositing her own set on her bed, she went into her en-suite bathroom and fished around in the cupboard under the sink for a fresh box of tissues. She had a half thought of having a shower before bed but rejected it on the grounds that she felt way too tired. Heading back into the hall, she waited for her rival to finish up in the bathroom. _Urgh, I can’t wait to get my battle suit off. Heh, Wade’s going to have a fit when he sees the damage it’s sustained tonight. However, it’ll be best if I leave it for a week or two before telling him. I’ll need to come up with a plausible explanation too._

Shego exited the bathroom to find Kimmie waiting for her. “Ok, I don’t hate you right now,” she said on seeing the large box of balm tissues.

Kim chuckled at what she assumed was her rival’s weird way of saying a purely friendly, _‘I love you’_. “I’ll take that,” she said and offered both the tissues and pyjamas to the green-skinned woman. “I hope you sleep well and I’ll see you when you get up.”

“At this rate, it’ll be lunchtime before either of us is awake,” Shego replied and took both items from the hero. She then walked past her rival and back into the main living area.

Kim turned to go down the hall back to her bedroom when she heard her rival say one last parting remark.

“I don’t often say this and rarely do I genuinely mean it, Kim, but thanks,” Shego said sincerely. _Heh, never thought I’d ever find myself saying that._

 _Wow, she must really mean it if she’s calling me Kim. Excluding her time as Miss Go, I can probably count on one hand the number of times she’s done that._ Kim turned to look at her rival and gave her a warm smile, “your welcome.”

Without further delay, both women headed to their respective rooms for some much need sleep. However, while tired and in the latter’s case feeling horrible, both Kim and Shego could not deny a sense of both anticipation and apprehensive; in equal measure, at what the new day and their breakfast discussion might bring. 


	57. S215(U6): Where we start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so we come at last to the final chapter of this update. I hope you guys have enjoyed it so far and are hungry for one more. The chapter title this time is the name of a song by David Gilmour (read Pink Floyd), called Where we start, taken from his On an Island solo album. While I had toyed with the idea of calling this chapter Breakfast at Kimmie's, after the song Breakfast at Tiffanies, I'm not a fan of replacing names in song titles of lyrics (not sure why), so we're going with Where we start. Personally, I think this is a really nice fit for this chapter, as I feel that this both the end of this part of the story and the start of a new one. So, enjoy it and I'll see you all at the end.

A grating noise filled Kim Possible’s ears and roused her from her slumber. _What on earth is that?_ Before she had managed to open her eyes, two more noises followed, the first, one she would have associated with an electronic lock opening and the second definitely being that of a metal gate sliding open. The resultant bang caused her to jump and her eyes snapped open, only to be confronted by… w _hat the…_ she thought on seeing the grey wall in front of her and the grey blanket that covered her.

“You’d better hurry up, Kimmie, or Brooks will have your ass.”

Shego’s voice registered with Kim at the exact same moment as she saw lifted her blanket and saw the orange jumpsuit that she wore. Kim practically leapt out of bed. “What on earth?” she exclaimed in complete and utter shock as her eyes took in the drab cell.

“Just leave her in bed and let Brooks flay her alive. It might do her some good.”

Kim spun around to see… “Bonnie,” she breathed in disbelief on seeing her old schoolyard nemesis standing at the door to the cell. Like herself, the brunette was also clad in an orange jumpsuit. She turned to face Shego; who was identically attired. “Shego… what’s going on?”

Shego rolled her eyes. “It’s called morning roll call, Kimmie,” the green-skinned woman replied mater-of-factly. “It’s where Brooks and her flunkies saunter through the cellblock, check to make sure we’re all still here and shit on anyone that pisses her off.”

Kim’s terrified eyes did another sweep of the room. “Wait, no, I broke you out!”

From the cell door, Bonnie let out a derisive laugh. “No, you broke in here, tried to bust her,” the former cheerleader pointed at Shego, “out and got the entire place put on lockdown when they caught you. Now you’re stuck here like the rest of us.” A twisted smile formed on her old nemesis’ lips, “a rather fitting and ironic fate if you ask me.”

“No…” Kim uttered in disbelief as a feeling of panic began to set in. She turned back to Shego, “…we escaped, I remember it.”

A grim expression formed on the green-skinned woman’s face. “Wish it were true, Kimmie, but the alarm got raised as you were climbing up onto the outer wall. It automatically cranked the voltage up on the razor wire, which blasted both of us of the wall and down to minefield. The blast from the mines we hit rendered both of us unconscious and knocked our stealth-camo’s offline. I woke up yesterday evening in the infirmary but you were still out of it until not long before Brooks had us moved here last night, don’t you remember?”

“Yeah, and she had the audacity to move me with you,” Bonnie spat sourly. “Something about making us the ‘Cellblock C Sirens’.” The former cheerleader then snorted, “it was bad enough when it was just her I had to put up with, now I’ve got to share my cell with you too, Kim,” before walking out of the cell.

“But… but…” Kim stuttered, unable to comprehend what was happening. _No… how could I have let this happen…_

From outside the cell, a voice yelled, “Rockwaller, Bonnie.”

“Present,” Bonnie replied.

“Possible, Kim,” the voice then barked.

A chorus of laughter and a few wolf whistles echoed around the cellblock after her name had been shouted, followed by a voice Kim knew all too well yelling, “HA! KIM POSSIBLE!”

All the colour drained from Kim’s face and a cold sweat covered her body when the voice barked again, “Possible, Kim.”

“No… I can’t be…”

From beside her, Shego’s hand grabbed Kim’s wrist and started to drag Kim towards the cell door, but before they reached it the dominating figure of Captain Brooks appeared in the doorway.

“Holding up my rollcall on day one, how very like your new cellmates,” Brooks said as she marched into the cell. “However, I shouldn’t be surprised at such insolence from someone that would try to free this one,” the Captain pointed a sharp fingernail at Shego, “from jail.”

Without warning, Captain Brooks seized a handful of her flaming-red hair. Kim yelped in pain as her wrist was wrenched from Shego’s grasp and she was dragged out of the cell. “Ahhh, no, please, stop!” she cried, but she might as well have petitioned the walls for mercy as her plea fell on deaf ears. She then felt a hard kick in the back of her legs and she fell to her knees.

“Take a good look, Inmate,” Brooks said in her ear and then used Kim’s hair to turn her head from side to side so that she could get a good view of the cellblock and all the jeering inmates, many of whom were supervillains that she herself had sent off to jail. “If I have my way, you won’t see beyond the walls of my facility ever again. So, if I were you, I’d get used to it and your new family. I imagine there are a lot of inmates here who are just **dying** to meet you again.”

Her head suspended by her hair in the hateful Captain’s grasp, Kim gazed around in terror at her new home. The laughter intensified as tears began to roll down her cheeks. “No… no… NO!”

Kim sat bolt upright and gulped down a large mouthful of cool air. Her frantic eyes darted around her bedroom, which was bathed in the warm glow of the sunlight that managed to break through the blinds. _A dream…. just a dream…_ It took her several moments to calm down, everything about cellblock C having felt so real. She exhaled slowly as her heart rate gradually slowed back to its normal rhythm. “Just a dream,” she reaffirmed out loud. However, dream or not, it had done a perfect job of illustrating just what could have been, had things gone ever so slightly differently last night. _Ok, note to self, I can’t do anything that reckless again._ Unfortunately, the admission highlighted that the part of her that was still Kimmie; her black and white younger self had been right. Despite the outcome being exactly what she had wanted, what she had done last night had not been sensible; put lightly. Only she knew that given her time again, she would do the exact same thing. It led her to wonder just what other things her now enlightened self might do that she would once have considered ‘unsensible’… she’d cross those bridges when she came to them.

Climbing out of bed, Kim winced loudly at the stabbing pain in her back, _son of a bitch!_ At about five am, just before taking off her battle suit, she had pre-empted the inevitable pain and taken a single codeine, however, it seemed the effect had now worn off. _No surprise,_ she thought on glancing at her alarm clock; it read 12:13. She continued to wince as she gingerly hobbled through to her bathroom to shower, resigned to having to take another one of the drugs if she wanted to get through the afternoon. Her back was not the only part of her to have suffered injury. Around both her ankles, where the electrified razor wire had been entangled, were two burn marks, the current having generated enough heat to penetrate her battle suit. Nevertheless, all things considered; including the alternative she’d seen in her dream, Kim considered herself relatively unscathed, so long as there was nothing to tie her to Shego’s escape. However, she would probably only discover that if Global Justice suddenly appeared and tried to batter down her door. Turning on the shower, she slipped out of her pyjamas and climbed into the cubical.

After a much-needed shower, which helped to loosen her back muscles slightly, Kim finished drying her hair and tossed her towel into the laundry hamper, before tying it back into a ponytail. Pulling her lilac pyjamas back on, she exited her bedroom and wandered stiffly into the main living area. She immediately heard the sound of the TV and her gaze fell upon Ru-Ru, who was perched upon the sofa with a plate of toaster tarts beside him. “Hell must have frozen over last night if you’re awake before we are,” she chuckled and wandered past him to the kitchen. _Granted, it was probably already under ten-foot of ice after I broke Shego out of jail._

Ru-Ru looked up at her from the TV, blew her a friendly raspberry and then went back to his program and toaster tarts.

In the spare bedroom, Shego tossed and turned amidst her sweaty bedsheets. At some point during the night, she had wrestled herself out of the sky-blue pyjamas Kimmie had given her, which were now strewn across the floor. Between the gap in the curtains, a stray beam of sunlight broke through, caught her eye and forced her to shift her head underneath her pillow. _Urgh! I feel shitty._ As if to emphasise this point, she started to cough. Fever, headache, and a sore throat rounded out her symptoms. The only positive being that at some point during the morning, her nose had dried up. Although, that had resulted in it becoming blocked and so necessitated her to breathe through her mouth.

When the sound of the TV from the opposite side of the door reached her ears, Shego knew sleep would elude her. She let out a slow breath through her mouth as her brain tried to take stock of the bizarre, if not totally screwed up situation in which she found herself. _Ok, so last night Kimmie shows up, breaks me out of jail, drives us back to Middleton and then twists my arm to get me to stay the night at her place… and in what universe am I not suffering from a weird fever dream?_ She gently rubbed the bedsheets between her fingers. Not only were they far softer than those found in cellblock D, but also felt far too real for this to be a construct of her imagination. _I guess this is reality then. Do I even want to know how this is possible?_ While her head hurt and she felt like crap, the answer to that was unquestionably yes. Her curiosity would not allow the mystery to go unsolved. _Well, I’m not going to get the answers lying here._

Somewhat unsteadily, Shego sat up and climbed out of bed. Dressing in the pyjamas Kimmie had given her last night, she slipped the personal jamming device, which she’d placed under her pillow, into the pocket and then glanced in the mirror that sat on the dresser on her way to the door. Her hair was dishevelled, more so than it had been back in her jail cell and there were large dark circles under her eyes; her nose was crusty looking too. _Well, don’t I just look ready to go to the ball,_ she laughed internally. _I wonder what state Kimmie’s in?_ Opening the door, she stepped out into the apartment’s main living area.

Kim heard the sound of the spare room door opening and poked her head out of the kitchen. “Afternoon,” she said cheerily and smiled at the green-skinned woman; feeling oddly at ease with the fact her rival had just wandered into her main living area in a pair of borrowed pyjamas. _I guess I’m equating this situation with that of Miss Go staying at mom and dads._

“Afternoon,” Shego grunted as she practically staggered into the dining table and sat down in the first chair her hand could grasp the back of. “Please tell me you’ve got coffee.”

“I’ve got a pot brewing as we speak,” Kim replied, sensing that she felt a lot more awake than her rival did. “I’m only just up and showered myself. How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been mauled by a jaguar, which got scared off by the bulldozer that then ran me over,” Shego answered, before her head drooped down onto the table. “How about you?” she then asked, her voice somewhat muffled by her hair.

“My…” Kim began but stopped upon feeling the creeping hand of self-consciousness start to grip at her from the dark recesses of her mind. It seemed she did not feel comfortable talking about her injuries. “…I’m fine,” she then said and hurriedly busied herself with pouring two mugs of coffee. She brought them both over to the table, along with the sugar bowl and a jug of milk. “Here,” she said and sat one of the mugs down in front of Shego.

Like she was some strange creature, Shego reached out a hand and pulled the mug of black coffee behind the curtain of her raven hair and held it under the nose. The steam rising from it felt somewhat soothing. “Thanks,” she grumbled without looking up.

“Your welcome,” Kim chuckled lightly. “You’re almost Ru-Ru level grumpy.” When her rival did not immediately hit back with a sarky comment, she added, “I’m making pancakes, they’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

That comment was enough to get Shego to raise her head and stare at her rival. “Are you sure that’s safe? I heard you had difficulty just pushing a button to dispense cheese when you worked at Bueno Nacho,” she said and managed a small grin.

“How on earth do you know about that?” Kim replied, feeling slightly concerned that the green-skinned woman had somehow found out a rather obscure detail about her life.

“I overheard Ned telling a trainee about the worst employee in Bueno Nacho history one time,” Shego answered. Her smile widened as she added, “it didn’t take much work to figure out that the stuck-up, red-haired girl with the serious attitude problem and dorky sidekick was you.”

“I wasn’t that bad!” Kim protested, although knew she was kidding neither of them; she had been that bad. “And where does Ned get off calling someone dorky?”

Shego simply gave Kimmie a pointed look, picked up her mug and took a sip of her coffee.

In complete indignation, Kim stormed back to the kitchen and started pouring pancake batter into the hot pan. _I’ll show her who can’t push a button!_

Some ten minutes later, Kim and Shego were both sat at the table with stacks of surprisingly tasty pancakes, with bacon and scrambled eggs in front of them. Something that came as somewhat of a surprise to both parties. They ate their food and drank copious amounts of strong coffee in relative silence, the background drone of the TV the occasional gleeful ‘woo-hoo’ from Ru-Ru, the only things of note to be heard. When their plates were finally cleared, it was Shego, who’s curiosity could wait no longer, that finally spoke.

“So, Kimmie, why is it that I’m sitting here at your dining table; eating pancakes, rather than whatever crap the prison cafeteria is serving for lunch today?” Upon mentioning the penitentiary, she spared a brief thought for Bonnie, _I wonder how she’s coping without me? Heh, I bet it won’t matter today. Brooks will have the entire place on lockdown because of my escape. I just hope I taught her enough to survive…_

 _Ok, here goes..._ Kim opened her mouth to begin the explanation with the revelation about her sexuality, except no words came out. This was the first time she had been about to utter words tantamount to, ‘I’m a lesbian’, to someone else and she found that they stuck in her throat. Ever since she’d discovered this truth about herself, it had existed solely inside her personal ‘Kim Possible’ bubble. However, saying it to someone else, especially to Shego, felt like opening the front door when you knew there was a pack of hungry wolves circling your home. She took a deep breath; heart thundering inside her chest, struggled to wrap her tongue around even the first word and eventually only managed stutter, “I…” she paused, _come on, Kim, you can do this, you can do anything._ She tried again, “I…” but hit the same problem. Her knuckles turned white and she screwed up her eyes, as she tried to force the truth from her mouth, “I think… I might be a lesbian…” Kim automatically flinched from a verbal attack that did not come. Cautiously, she opened one eye a crack, half expecting her rival to launch into a vicious assault at any moment. When nothing happened, she was able to relax her body enough to open both eyes and unclench her fists. However, her heart was still going a million miles-per-hour.

Shego sat and watched Kimmie, as the hero struggled to utter the first part of her explanation. _This ought to be good if she’s stumbling over her first word._ She chose to say nothing, but neither did she intensify her stare or put the girl any more on the spot than she already was. When the hero’s completed sentence finally reached her ears, Shego almost fell off of her chair. Whatever explanation or rationale she had been expecting, that had not been it. And while she knew she had not misheard, she could not help but utter, “did you just say...” _Oh, holy fucking crap! I’d figured kissing her back in Drakken’s lair would have booted her ass out of anger and into fear, but I would never have imagined she’d virtually end up at acceptance in less than two weeks. As let’s face it, if she’s telling me she might be a lesbian that probably means she’s already ninety-nine-percent certain._

When no angry mob with torches and pitchforks sprung out of the walls to lynch her, Kim relaxed slightly more, let out a sigh and shook her head. “No... sorry… that’s a lie... I’m positive I’m a lesbian. It’s just...” the rest of her sentence got caught in her throat again.

While Kimmie’s first words could easily have wrong-footed her into thinking the girl was about to recant her admission, Shego knew different; she could hear it in her tone. At that moment, she completely forgot the fact they were hero and villain; nemeses and showed Kim the sincere; compassionate side of herself that was all too often buried beneath buckets of sass and sarcasm. “It’s just still so difficult for you to come to terms with and admit to someone,” she finished softly. Shego then gave Kimmie a warm smile and from the girl’s eyes managed to discern something else, “I’m the first person you’ve told, aren’t I?”

On hearing her rival correctly assume that she was the first person to hear this from her, the reality of what she had just done, had been planning to do for days, finally hit her. _Is my life that messed up that the first person I’ve told about my sexuality; one of the most important self-discoveries a person can make, wasn’t my parents, best friend or best girl, rather the woman who is my nemesis?_ That thought served only to shine a brighter spotlight than those she’d been under back at the prison upon the current state of her life. _I no longer have a best friend, my best girl hates me and I can’t bring myself to talk to mom..._ Kim slowly nodded her head before turning it away. She sniffed slightly as she forced herself to hold back the tears that she knew were fighting to burst from her eyes.

 _Shit, things must be bad for her if I’m the first person she’s told. However, it still begs the question why._ Shego chose to give Kimmie a moment to collect herself before asking any questions. Given that this had been where the hero had chosen to start her explanation, it did not take her long to reason that this was why Kimmie had come to visit her on Monday. “Are you ok?” she eventually asked when the girl finally turned back to face her.

“Yeah,” Kim replied in a low voice, which probably betrayed the fact that she wasn’t ok in the slightest. “I can’t tell you how hard that just was or what it’s been like since we... you know... in Drakken’s lair.”

“Kissed, Kimmie,” Shego laughed lightly, “we kissed inside Drakken’s lair… a lot. And you don’t have to. I know exactly how hard it’s been for you because I once walked the exact same path you’re currently on.” As she said those last words out loud, Shego knew she had just answered her own question. “That’s why I’m the first person you’ve told. You wanted to tell someone whom you knew would understand, right?”

Kim nodded again, “yeah. It’s why I came to visit you on Monday. Only that didn’t quite pan out the way I’d planned. And between needing to talk to you, how I saw you were being treated and Ru-Ru cajoling/ attempting to bribe me, I knew the only option I had was to break you out.”

“It’s probably a good thing your visit didn’t work out and not just because I got a get out of jail free card out of it,” Shego said, unable to suppress a grin. “Given my disposition towards you before Ru-Ru dropped Nerdlinger in the shit, I would have told you to piss off, had I been in my right mind. Which is not the sort of thing you want to hear the first time you ever tell someone that you’re a lesbian,” _although, as angry as I was, it still would have been better than the shit I got._

Like a dam had just been blown up by some sort of mad-science super-dynamite, words suddenly exploded from Kim’s mouth in a single long string that she had no control over, “ImsosorryforhowangryIwasatyouhowItriedtohurtyouandformypartingettingyousenttojailIjustreallyneedtotalktoyouIvegotsomanyquestionsIdontevenknowwheretostart.” She only managed to stop when she inevitably ran out of breath.

“In English, Princess,” Shego laughed, then added, “why don’t you start by taking a deep breath and slowing down.”

Kim did as her rival suggested and ensured she had full control over herself before trying again. “I’m really sorry for how angry I was at you and that I tried to seriously hurt you. You clearly knew the truth before I did and I was both too stubborn and scared to accept it.”

 _Heh, that’s putting it mildly._ “It’s been over ten years since I came to terms with my own sexuality, so it’s much easier for me to see the signs in someone than it is for them to see it in themselves,” Shego replied.

“Still, I should never have treated you the way I did,” Kim said solemnly. “I realise now that you were just trying to help, not mess with my head.”

“Given that you went from outright ignorance to acceptance in just over a month, I’d say I did a not bad job,” Shego said with a smile. _Even if I hadn’t planned on doing anything more than kicking you out of denial and into anger._ “I think it took me almost a full year to go from one to the other.”

Kim let out a cringy sort of laugh, “actually, it was only three weeks.” _A whole year! My three weeks were bad enough. I don’t even want to think about how difficult it must have been for her to suffer for that long._ “That’s why you chose to help me, isn’t it?” Kim then asked. “You saw yourself in me and didn’t want me to suffer for as long as you did.”

Shego was slightly taken aback both by Kimmie’s assertion that it had only taken her three weeks to go from ignorance to acceptance and by how the hero had managed to deduce her reasoning so easily. _Damn, I’m good. She must have practically bypassed fear and bargaining and gone straight to acceptance after we made out in Drakken’s lair._ _Heh, guess I forgot who I’m dealing with here._ “Yeah. Despite how angry I was with you over that non-date, once I’d cooled off a little and then saw you trying to prove that you were straight, I knew that you were a lesbian...” she paused as her compassionate side clashed with her Shego persona and after a quick battle, the former won out. “Given how alike we are, it didn’t take me long to realise that you would probably wind up going through the same prolonged hell that I did... I guess I figured that not even you deserved to go through what I did.”

“Shego, I...” Kim began but quickly found that she did not have the words to express both her gratitude for what her rival had done for her, shock that the woman had done it in the first place and sorrow for what she knew must have been hell on earth for Shego all those years ago. In the end, all she could say was a simple, sincere, “thank you.”

Given that she was no longer used to having people thank her for anything, Shego again found herself torn when it came to how to respond. However, whether it was due to being ill, lingering gratitude towards Kimmie for breaking her out of jail, or because the issue transcended their hero/villain relationship, her Shego persona was again restrained somewhat. “Don’t worry about it, Kimmie. Since you broke me out last night, why don’t we call it even?”

Kim sighed internally, d _amn, I guess she’s got a point. Given that she helped me first and with something so huge, getting her out of jail probably only just covers that. Except I still need her help._ She then bit her lip and said, “I need to rack up more debt.”

“Meaning?” Shego asked with a pointed look, although did not need to. While Kimmie had reached acceptance in regards to being a lesbian in only three weeks, there was zero chance of her having figured out how to go about living as one. _She’ll have a bucket load of questions she needs answers to and since, unlike me, she’s got someone she can ask, it’s no surprise that’s what she wants to do._

“I’ve got a lot of questions I’d like to ask you,” Kim said apprehensively and then quickly added, “but only if you’re ok with answering them. I don’t want to impose,” however, instantly regretted it. _Great, now she’s going to think I’m needy._

Shego couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “This is going to take a while, isn’t it?”

Kim cringed slightly as she struggled to read her rival’s expression. _Is she annoyed with me, or was that more of a long-suffering resignation?_ Unfortunately, she had no choice but to be honest with her, “probably. I’m not even sure where to start.” She then decided to appeal to the part of the green-skinned woman that had shown her such kindness and helped her in the first place, “I guess you probably had the same sort of questions.”

“I did and I had to figure out the answers to them by myself,” Shego replied. Kimmie’s face had already started to fall before she was able to continue, “and it sucked; royally. A breath caught in her throat and she broke out into a small coughing fit, a perfect illustration of the point she had been about to make.

“I’ll get you some water,” Kim said and hastily stood up and headed for the kitchen. _Ok, so it sounds like she had just as much trouble figuring out the answers to all the questions I’ve got. But is the connection we clearly share over this issue enough that she’ll be willing to help me a second time? After all, look what happened to her first time around._ She filled a high-ball with water and then brought it back to the table. “Here,” she said and set the high-ball down on the glass surface.

Shego, who had stopped coughing, picked up the high-ball and drank from it. The cool water made her throat hurt when she swallowed. “Listen, Kimmie,” she began, her voice now sounding slightly hoarse, “I feel like hell and am not in the mood right now for an even longer heart to heart than we’ve already had. And trust me, this is going to take a while.” _That and there’s something more pressing that I need to do before I keel over._

“I understand,” Kim said as her head drooped slightly. “It’s not fair for me to impose my problems on you, especially when you’re not well. I just really could have used someone to talk to about all of this.”

“Hey, I didn’t say we couldn’t talk, I just said not right now,” Shego replied quickly, before she found herself subjected to Kimmie’s damn puppy-dog-pout.

“Do you mean…”

“Yeah, since you obviously want to go out for another drink, I’ll give you a call when I’m feeling better and we can meet in Spritzers.”

Kim’s face lit up and she had to stop herself from diving forward and throwing her arms around her rival. _Oh my god, she’s agreeing to go out with me again and I didn’t even have to ask. However…_

“However, let’s be clear, we’re only going out to drink, talk and maybe have something to eat, that’s it,” Shego then added. _As she’s definitely not ready for anything more than that and I’m not sure how I feel about making another attempt at sleeping with her, even if she is both sexy and cute._

“I’m ok with that,” Kim quickly agreed, feeling slightly relieved that her rival had both made the move to avoid the disastrous misunderstanding from last time and taken anything beyond that off the table. However, at the same time, there was that small part of her that couldn’t help but feel a tad disappointed. _I haven’t even sorted out how I feel about when we kissed yet,_ she quickly reminded herself.

“Good. Now, unless there’s anything that absolutely cannot wait until then, do you mind getting me a ride home?” Shego asked. While normally she would never have asked Kimmie for anything, she felt too crappy to try and deal with the matter by herself, especially given that she had no money or cell-phone. “I’ll pay you back when we meet for that drink.”

“Of course,” Kim said all too willingly and rose from her chair. “I’ll call in a favour, so it won’t cost either of us.”

“I thought in the current climate favours had gone the way of a Drakken plan and currency had become king,” Shego replied.

“It has, but I’ve still got a bucket load of favours due to me from missions I did prior to the Lorwardians screwing everything up.” Kim headed through to her workroom and picked her Kimmunicator up off the desk. There were a bunch of messages labelled urgent from Wade and she had a sneaking suspicion that his monitoring of GJ traffic would have picked up on the fact Shego was once more on the loose. Needless to say, she chose to ignore them. She’d call him later, feign shock that her rival had escaped from jail so soon and say she’d deal with her when she next surfaced. The irony being that she really would be front and centre next time Shego made a public appearance. Flicking through her contacts, she began sourcing that ride.

Taking another drink of water, Shego watched Kimmie head off down the hall, her eyes lingering on the girl’s tight backside. _Dammit, she’s sexy, cute **and** now batting for my team. Urgh, why did you have to go and complicate things, Princess? _In all fairness, after their brief make-out session, she should have anticipated that by the next time she saw the hero that she would have accepted the fact she was a lesbian. _Shit, I do still want to sleep with her._ She shook her head and stood up, _focus, Shego, there’ll be time to deal with that later._ Heading back into the room she had slept in, Shego changed into the clothes Kimmie had given her last night, made sure both the letter and jamming device were safely in the back pocket of the jeans, she didn’t trust Captain Brooks not to have put a tracker in with the glow suppressing serum and headed back into the main living area. She’d decided against showering as she would need to do so again after she got home anyway. “Ru-Ru, it’s time to go home,” she said upon reaching the sofa.

The naked-mole-shark turned his head to look at her. “Cheese?” he asked hopefully.

Shego laughed, “if there’s any in the fridge that’s edible, you can have it.”

“Mmmm, yum-yum,” Ru-Ru said and licked his lips. He stood up and climbed onto the top of the sofa.

Shego smiled, held out a hand and Ru-Ru happily hopped on and scuttled up to her shoulder.

Kim wandered back into the main living area just in time to see the brief exchange between the pair. _Wow, she really does care for him. I guess I was right in thinking that Miss Go wasn’t just some freak mad-science accident. That persona is part of Shego, she just doesn’t let it show._ “You’re ride will be outside in five minutes.”

Shego glanced up and saw Kimmie standing at the edge of the hallway, unable to shake the feeling that she had just been caught with her pants down. “Oh, right… thanks,” she mumbled. _Dammit, why did she have to see me being nice to Ru-Ru? She’ll think I’ve gone soft._ Naturally, she tried to compensate. “Well, it’s been fun, Kimmie, but I’m out of here.”

Kim couldn’t help but laugh lightly at her rival’s attempt to act aloof. “It’ll be fun when we go out for a drink, promise.” _Shit, did I just flirt with her?_ Internally she hit her head off of a wall, _stupid, stupid, stupid! We only agreed on it being drinks and a chat ten minutes ago and already I’m messing with that._

Shego raised an eyebrow at that comment. _Did she just flirt with me?_ She forced herself to brush it aside. _Remember what happened last time you thought that. Regardless of when this night out happens, drinking, talking and possibly eating; that’s it._ “Fun’s subjective, Princess. Now, I’m out of here,” she said and headed for the door.

More than a little annoyed with herself, Kim followed and deactivated the security system before opening the front door. “Have a safe trip home and get well soon,” she said by way of a parting remark.

With Ru-Ru perched on her shoulder, Shego stepped into out into the hallway and crossed the short distance to the elevator. When the doors slid open, she stepped inside and turned to look at her shoulder. “Say goodbye to Kimmie, Ru-Ru.”

“Bye-bye, Princess,” the naked-mole-shark said and gave Kim a wide grin.

“Bye-bye, Ru-Ru,” Kim said, feeling slightly relieved that she would no longer have to guard her food and fingers from the little terror. She then met the green-skinned woman’s brilliant emerald gaze, “I’ll see you soon, Shego.”

“Yeah, see you soon, Kimmie,” Shego replied and then smirked at the hero. “By the way, Princess, for you first proper felony, you sure knocked it out the park.” The elevator doors closed just as she saw the look of infuriation spread across the girl’s face and she could not help but laugh.

##

Kim closed her apartment door and let out a long, slow breath. _Ok, so that went better than I could possibly have hoped. She’s going to call me, we’re going to go out and I’ll finally be able to get my questions answered._ She headed over to the dining table, collected the dishes and then went to the kitchen to wash them. _Oh god, what if she lied to me? I could be waiting for days on a phone call that’s never coming._ She felt her heart rate increase and her breathing become slightly ragged at that thought. _Why the hell did I think it was a good idea to trust a supervillain and Shego out of all of them?_

 _“Well, well, look who’s finally coming to her senses,”_ the voice of Kimmie said derisively, as the image of her younger self appeared inside her head; wearing an uncharacteristic sneer.

 _No,_ Kim thought firmly, _Shego wasn’t lying. She’s going to call me and we’re going to go out for a drink and a chat._

 _“Urgh, quit deluding yourself,”_ Kimmie spat. _“Thanks to you, she’s out of jail and can do what the hell she likes and you can bet that you don’t factor into her plans.”_

 _You don’t know her like I do!_ Kim yelled as she shoved the dishes into the sink with a clatter. She wasn’t sure where exactly that had come from but found herself rolling with it. _All you remember is having to fight her in order to stop Drakken… back when everything was black and white._

 _“Nothing’s changed!”_ Kimmie yelled at her. _“She’s a supervillain and you’re supposed to be a hero. Do you honestly think that her pretending to be nice changes that?”_

 _Everything’s changed! As much as I hate that Captain Brooks, she’s right; the world isn’t black and white. And I…_ she paused on realising what she was about to say, however, despite how insane it sounded, she had to believe it was true, _…I trust Shego, at least when it comes to the issues I’m having with my sexuality. Regardless of what you think, I know she wasn’t lying when she told me that she went through the same hell._

 _“Well, don’t blame me when everything comes crashing down around you,”_ Kimmie fired back.

Like the previous night, Kim’s latest internalised argument abruptly ended and left her feeling drained. _Shego will call me, I know she will,_ she reaffirmed internally. In no mood to wash the dishes, she wandered over to the sofa and sat down. It was now Wednesday afternoon; eleven days after she had stopped Dr Drakken from holding the world to ransom with his lightning ray and Kim Possible had not stopped a villain since; merely ensured some cargo got from A to B. And as she sat and channel surfed, she knew that somewhere, Dr Betty Director would probably be having a fit and not just because the world’s most dangerous supervillain was once more at large. Yet Kim did not care one iota.

##

At the tame, law-abiding speeds, it took Shego forty-five minutes to get from Kimmie’s apartment building, beyond the outskirts of Middleton and to the turnoff that led to her secluded forest home. While the driver had been more than willing to take her to her front door, she’d insisted he drop her off half a mile away. The man might have had no clue who she was, but she did not want to take the chance. With Ru-Ru safely on her shoulder, she’d walked the rest of the way home.

 _Home sweet home,_ Shego thought and smiled when she turned the corner and the house came into view. The gravel on the driveway crunched underfoot as she made her way up to the porch. Fortunately, she had both the energy and ability to activate her glow long enough for the house security system to deactivate; negating her need to use her contingency plan. Stepping inside, she wandered through to the kitchen and deposited Ru-Ru on the countertop, before opening the fridge. Unsurprisingly, given she’d spent the week prior to her incarceration living in Drakken’s volcano lair, there was little in the fridge that was edible. Nevertheless, she found an unopened block of cheese, one of the many she’d bought since the naked-mole-shark had moved in, and withdrew it.

“Here,” Shego said and handed it to him. “Go eat that and watch TV. I need to go out.”

Ru-Ru’s eyes lit up and he grabbed the offering like it was a bar of gold. However, his stomach did not get in the way of him looking pointedly at her and saying, “sick!”

“Since when did you become Nurse Ratched?” Shego laughed. She then fixed him with a stern look. “Yes, I’m sick and when I come back, I’m not going to be in good shape and will most likely sleep until lunchtime tomorrow, but this will help me feel better more than any cold medicine.”

A look of concern that she would not have thought possible spread across the naked-mole-shark’s pink face and he replied, “feel better?”

“I will, now go watch TV.” She watched Ru-Ru hop down off the counter and scurry through to the living room with his block of cheese before she headed for the stairs.

Up in her bedroom, Shego stripped out of Kimmie’s clothes and went into her wardrobe; taking the letter she’d received on her last day in prison with her. Finding her most battered clothing; a pair of khaki combats, a black vest and red hoodie, all with several holes and paint marks on them, she pulled them on, along with an old pair of sneakers and popped the jamming device in the pocket. She then slid open a small; secret wall panel in the back of her closet to reveal a safe made from mad-science steal and locked with the same glow-activated contraption as her front door. From inside, she withdrew two boxes. She opened the first one and looked at the small stack of parchment envelopes that had her real forename written on the front in neat calligraphy. Her hand froze for a moment as she went to place the latest one inside. _Maybe it’s time I open one and see what she has to say…_ Shego quickly suppressed the thought, dropped the envelope atop the others, closed the lid and shoved the box back inside the safe and locked it tight. _I don’t care what she thinks of me!_

The second box, made of metal and locked with a simple clasp, was only about four inches long, two inches wide and one inch deep. Shego pocketed it and made her way out of the bedroom, down the stairs and out the front door. Multiple tracks led off into the trees all around the house, save for on the eastern side, which bordered the lake. She chose one that headed north.

The early evening sun shone through the luscious green foliage that hung overhead, the latter being the only thing to make the trip somewhat bearable, as it blocked a good portion of the light. While better than rain, the sunlight caused her head to hurt and each step that did not find flat ground caused her feet and legs to ache. Every so often, she would cough or be forced to stop and catch her breath, but she forced herself to keep going. Step after heavy step, Shego continued for about a mile and a half before she came to a clearing about twenty metres in diameter. It was not a natural occurrence.

Several years ago, a logging firm had purchased the land and bribed the state governor for clearance to chop down the entire forest and so had sent a team in to carve out the clearing as the first step to establishing their base of operations in the area. Those were the only trees they ever managed to cut down. The corruption had been exposed by environmental activists and the governor forced to resign, with his replacement swiftly retracting the permission. A large forest that could not be harvested suddenly became an undesirable asset for a logging firm and so Shego had purchased the land from them at a bargain price, built her house on it and put signs around the border that read: Trespassers will be shot. She never saw a sole amidst these trees.

A scorched branch crumbled to ash as Shego stepped out into the clearing. All around her the ground was scorched black and the felled trees nothing more than a pile of charred wood amidst a pool of black ashes. She hated coming here, the sight a dark reminder of just how dangerous she could be if uncontrolled. Nothing above ground lived in this part of the forest and likely never would again, not after the first time she’d come here. Still, it was better that she’d destroyed what had already been a tree graveyard than set the entire forest ablaze.

Walking to the centre of the charred sea of destruction, Shego reached into her back pocket and withdrew the small metal box. Popping the clasp, she opened the lid and withdrew a small vial and a hypodermic. She stared at the clear liquid as she filled the syringe, a faint rainbow shimmering through it. Even though she desired the outcome more than anything in the world at present, no hint of a smile formed on Shego’s lips. _Here goes nothing._ Rolling up the sleeve of her hoodie, she found a vein in her wrist, tapped it a few times to and then pierced it with the hypodermic. She just had enough time to withdraw and discard it after injecting herself with the contents, before she felt the burning sensation begin to spread throughout her body from the sight of the puncture mark.

Shego fell to the ground and huddled her knees to her chest as her entire body began to feel like it had been tossed into a vat of molten steel. Though she’d clenched her teeth in anticipation, she could do nothing to stop the scream of agony being ripped from her lips. At that exact moment, a bright green glow surrounded her and begun to rapidly pulsate. Eyes screwed up tighter than should have been possible, Shego continued to scream as her glow broke free of the metaphorical rubble that had been the GJ serum and began to burn the toxin from every part of her body. Then it happened. In a bright green inferno, Shego’s plasma exploded outward from her as her body uncurled and torched everything within almost the entire ten-meter radius from herself and the undamaged trees at the edge of the clearing. The pain suddenly ceased and Shego rose to her feet, propelled by two streams of plasma from her hands. Like a green demon from the depths of hell, she stood bathed in the dazzling green of her glow and the flames of her plasma, most of her clothes having been burned in the initial blast. Instinctively, like she had been born with this knowledge ingrained in her DNA, she began to fire a series of large blasts into the air from her hands; her body needing to literally burn off the excess energy or self-combust. Slowly but surely the intensity of her glow decreased and the flames that surrounded her faded.

Eventually, Shego was left standing with only her hands ablaze and she was once more able to think and sense beyond the basic instincts that her glow had written into her DNA the night it had chosen her… the night she had been reborn. Exhausted, she surveyed the blackened landscape and scanned the edge of the clearing for any sign that the explosion had reached beyond what she knew to be the safe distance. And she could not help but have the thought, the same thought she always had after restoring her glow in this manner, _this power is almost too much for an adult to handle. How on earth did I manage it when I was only eight?_ A hollow laugh rang through her mind, _oh yeah, that’s right, I didn’t. The only saving grace… the only thing that probably saved me and everyone around me, was that my power never reached its full potential till I turned sixteen… I wonder how my brothers would have coped had one of them got it instead?_

Her hands still wreathed in her plasma, Shego set off in the direction of home. While as a child she had often wished that one of her brothers had been burdened with her glow, that idea now felt completely abhorrent. The green Team Go glow belonged to her and now she had it back. Once more, Shego felt whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok everyone, deep breath time I think...
> 
> Right, so a lot happened in that update, more than in any other save for perhaps the penultimate update to last season, at least in my opinion. Shego is now out of jail, the ladies have cleared the air and made some genuine progress with their relationship. That being said, there are a couple of points I'd like to raise before I sign off. 
> 
> First, the conclusion to the jailbreak. I know a lot of you really wanted to see Captain Brook's get a proper beatdown from Kim, Shego or both. Unfortunately, this was never on the cards and I think I covered both reasons for this in the chapter. First, it would have been too much of a risk for either Kim or Shego to try and take her down and I wanted to illustrate that both (especially Shego) are better people than she is. It also fits in with my philosophy that sometimes good things happen to bad people and vice versa and that some people never get their comeuppance. However, I want to stress that I simply making a point about my philosophy when writing her, not suggesting what may or may not happen in the rest of the story. 
> 
> In After the ordeal, Kim also found out about Danni, albeit just her name, however, she is a character I'd like you all to keep in mind, even if it takes me a while to reveal more about her and her history with Shego. 
> 
> Then at the start of Where we start, I could not resist showing a very brief glimpse of the Cellblock C Sirens. While there had never been any intention for Kim and Shego to get caught, I must confess I gave a little thought to it when Shego made that joke in Jailbreak, jailbreak, jailbreak! I really would like to see how that would pan out, but cannot split my time between the main story and a spin-off based on a single Shego comment, lol. So, that little snippet is all we get. 
> 
> And, of course, at the end of Where we start, Shego got her glow back in full. That scene was such a relief to finally write as I'd had it in my head for a very long time, even before I knew I would be sending Shego to jail. 
> 
> Finally, I'd like to touch upon where the story is now headed. We have now entered the second part of season two and reached what I feel is a major turning point in Kim and Shego's relationship. And after five consecutive chapters where they have interacted a lot, my intention is to now focus a lot more on them while they are together. So, from this point on expect them to interact with a much greater frequency than they did throughout season one and this first part of season two. That being said, there are still subplots that I will be giving chapter to at various points in time and I suspect some new ones will pop up as I continue to write this season (one has already entered my thought process, but I'll be keeping it under wraps for now). 
> 
> Thank you all for taking the time to read this update. I hope you have all thoroughly enjoyed it and it was worth the wait. The next one should be two chapters long and be with you in two weeks’ time, which should be a little more bearable a wait this time, given I did not leave this update on a wallhanger, lol ;p Thanks once again for your continued support and I'll hopefully see you all then.
> 
> Warmest regards  
> The very tired author; Niaxi


	58. S216(U7): Interlude: The director sat and the lines on the map, move from side to side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone, how are you all doing? I'm so sorry this update is coming to you late, however, I lost half my writing time last week. I literally got home from work at one o'clock this afternoon and have been working non-stop for the past ten hours to finish, read and edit the second chapter and do the final readthrough of the first and make the last edits. 
> 
> In regards to this update, it was originally supposed to be two short interludes (about 6K words together), which I thought I would be able to write in a week, which would give me three to try and get ahead of the game again. Alas, whenever I try to do something short, such as a one-shot, things quickly spiral out of control. As a result, the first chapter grew from one scene to three and ended up over 11K words long, making it one of if not the longest chapter of the story thus far. And the second ended up just shy of 8K words, making both together almost 20K words (three times the length I'd anticipated). 
> 
> At this point I need to put one of you guys into the spotlight, so say hello, Celioxa. Not only has she done two amazing drawings of Shego based off of And You And I, which I wholeheartedly encourage all of you to take two seconds to check out (see the link below), but her comment on the last chapter resulted in a significant change to the first chapter of this update. I had just written the first two paragraphs of the second scene when I read her comment and part of it caused me to think about an idea I'd toyed with. In the end, I liked the idea that much that I scrapped the two paragraphs I'd written so I could implement it. So, Celioxa, this chapter is dedicated to you and you'll know exactly what part of your comment I'm referring to when you get to the second scene. For everyone else, I'll tell you once we're done. 
> 
> Anyway, please do check out Celioxa's work and if you like it, leave her a comment, as she thoroughly deserves your support. You'll find her here: 
> 
> https://twitter.com/celioxa
> 
> And the pictures of Shego specifically:
> 
> https://twitter.com/celioxa/status/1324452689422524416/photo/1
> 
> https://twitter.com/celioxa/status/1324452689422524416/photo/2
> 
> Returning to this chapter and the title: The director sat and the lines on the map, moved from side to side, is taken from the Pink Floyd song Us and Them (from The Dark Side of the Moon), with the word director replacing general. This song is about human conflict and this line a particular favourite of mine, as it absolutely nails the concept of how a small group of people who are removed from a situation, make decisions that can affect the lives of thousands. Which I felt was perfect for this chapter. 
> 
> Right, that's more than enough from me for now. Thank you all so much for all the support you gave me on the last update, it is more than appreciated. So, enjoy the chapter and please do check out Celioxa's work and show her some of the love that you have all shown me over the course of this story.

The office was untidy, hectic even. Reports and files, along with several newspapers were strewn across the large desk, round corner table and atop a low bookcase. On any surface that was not covered in papers, a thin layer of dust had started to gather. That was not to say that the office owner themselves should be branded unkempt or untidy, simply that they’d had zero time to clean over the past few months. That and security protocols dictated that all confidential material had to be secured before any of the domestic staff were allowed access. Needless to say, the room had not seen a cleaner in that same time period.

Dr Betty Director pinched the bridge of her nose as she turned on the large viewscreen that hung on the wall behind her desk. In five minutes, the representative from the UN Security Council would appear on the screen and expect an explanation for the current state of affairs and what plans she had in place to deal with the situation. Basically, she was about to get chewed out by her boss. She glanced at her watch; 3:55 pm. _No time for a proper meal,_ her eyes shifted over to the coffee maker that sat in the far corner of the office, _however, I can at least grab an espresso._

Rising from her chair, Betty let out a loud yawn as she crossed the room. Her stomach then growled loudly. She’d not eaten a proper meal since lunchtime yesterday; twenty-seven hours ago, or slept since two nights prior; thirty-seven hours ago. Granted the term sleep should probably be used in the loosest possible sense. For over a week now, when things quietened down enough, she’d been using the REM inducer; a device cooked up by some of GJ’s more eccentric scientists. The little gadget allowed her to get the required ninety minutes of REM sleep in exactly ninety minutes, rather than across the typical seven to eight hour period. A hollow laugh echoed inside her mind as she busied herself with making a strong coffee, _I can’t even remember the last proper night’s sleep I had._ Unfortunately, she would need to find time to have one soon. One of the scientists had warned her that the REM inducer should only be used once; twice at the most, between periods of actual sleep. She’d hit five two nights ago and had been forced into a state of trying to keep the side-effects at bay.

Betty trudged back to her desk with her coffee, which contained a new personal high of six shots of espresso and a semi-stale Danish from a box Will Du had brought with him yesterday morning, at least she thought it had been yesterday. She didn’t have the headspace to remember such insignificant details properly. _Heaven forbid the supervillains of the world decide to take a collective half-day, so I can get some proper sleep and a decent meal._ Alas, that was wishful thinking on her part. She had almost twenty full-sized teams scattered across the globe currently in action, another dozen solo operative’s working on reconnaissance, her plans for Team Possible requiring immediate alteration until such a time as she got the main asset on board and to make matters ten times worse, Kim Possible herself once more AWOL. And all that was before the bombshell that had come in the early hours of the morning; Shego was once more on the loose. Betty grit her teeth at the memory of that particular piece of news getting passed to her. In a fit of rage, she’d thrown a mug across the room, shattering it against the wall; the pieces were still strewn across the floor somewhere. _We didn’t even manage to keep her locked up for two weeks this time!_ While it had been in no way her fault, she would still shoulder at least half of the blame.

Dr Director sat back down in her leather-backed chair and took a bite out of her Danish. Her stomach growled angrily at her attempt to placate it with the pastry, however, having no other choice, she ignored it. With one hand she rubbed her left temple, while her right fished around inside her drawer for some painkillers. Headaches were just one side-effect of extended use of the REM inducer and she’d had this one for three days now. Finding a bottle of Tylenol, she popped the cap, tipped two pills into her hand, then swallowed them with a mouthful of flat soda from a can on her desk. _Urgh, how long has that been sitting there?_ She decided she didn’t want to know the answer to that question and instead tried to purge the taste from her mouth with another bite of her Danish and a sip of her coffee. Her watch beeped, causing her to stiffen slightly and so she turned around to face the viewscreen. _Back into hell time..._ she lamented; this having been the first five minutes she’s had to herself since before the Shego news broke. The visage of a stern-looking woman then promptly appeared on the screen. _Why did she have to pick today of all days to demand an update?_

“General,” she greeted with as much warmth as one could towards someone liable to roast you alive, “it’s good to see you again.”

“Director,” the General replied stiffly, her thin patience and general disdain already palpable; never a good sign. “Let’s keep this brief, shall we?”

Betty knew it was no question. Her superior wanted the clip-notes and that was it. _She might as well just get me to summarise the situation in a sentence, as all I’d need is one word; Shit._ “Very well, General. We had four big wins two weeks ago; with Mr Ed Lipsky, Mr Azear, Señor Senior, Junior, Miss Rockwaller, Dr Lipsky and Shego all being successfully apprehended and remanded in Global Justice custody,” she said, electing to start with what little good news she had.

The General did not look remotely impressed with this news. “Tell me, Director, which of these supervillains were apprehended by Global Justice operatives?”

She bit her lip. “Dr Lipsky and Shego were both captured by Global Justice operatives at Mount St Helens.” Even though she made the assertion and it was technically true, Dr Director knew it would not fly. _She’s about to haul me over the coals for this._

“If by captured, you mean handcuffed and loaded into the back of a helicopter after they had both been placed on a silver platter for you, then I suppose you are correct,” the General sneered. “However, I seem to have found myself in a strange position where I’d find more truth if I read the national tabloids than I’m getting from you.” The woman paused for a moment to allow her scathing words to sink in. “Why don’t you try again, Director. How many of your big wins were operations carried out by Global Justice operatives?”

The stare Dr Director found herself faced with made her feel like the General was hammering nails into her singular eye. _At this rate, I’ll be lucky to get out of this one alive._ She forced herself to hold the woman’s gaze. “None of them. They were all apprehended by Kim Possible and bar Dr Lipsky and Shego, who were arrested directly by Global Justice, all of them were turned over to us by local law enforcement.”

“So, it seems that Miss Kimberly Ann Possible is not just outperforming your top agents, but virtually your entire organisation.” The sheer volume of displeasure in the General’s tone was almost enough to fill Betty’s entire office, leaving little space for the torrent she knew would surely come when she delivered the bad news. “Why don’t we move on, Director. What is the current state of affairs?”

Betty sighed internally, _might as well get this over with._ “To be frank, General, the situation at present is becoming dire. Supervillain attacks continue to climb, penitentiaries capable of holding those we capture are in short supply across the globe and Global Justice is stretched to its limits,” _and Kim Possible has gone AWOL again!_ She left that last point unsaid. It was embarrassing enough that a freelancer had been outclassing her top agents since she was sixteen, let alone admitting that the situation quickly spiralled out of control whenever Kim Possible vanished for more than a couple of days. That fact aside, she could go into excruciating levels of detail about every single issue her organisation faced at present, but it would make no difference. It all boiled down to one thing, “I need more resources… a lot more resources.”

The scowl that immediately formed on the General’s face told her that this news had once again not gone down well and that no extra resources would be forthcoming any time soon. “As I have repeatedly told you, Director, few countries have either the individuals or equipment of the calibre you require and those that do are reluctant to part with them…”

 _…and the UN does not currently have the authority to make them…_ Betty tuned out for a moment as she took a sip of her coffee, having heard this exact same spiel more times than she wished to count. _Countries will hoard their own resources but then bitch to the UN that Global Justice didn’t deal with this threat or that incident when they fail to handle it themselves._

“…besides, you assured the Security Council that your manpower deficit would significantly decrease upon the immediate enlistment of Miss Kimberly Ann Possible into the Global Justice fold and then be eliminated once the Team Possible project had been up and running for six months to a year.”

Dr Director had to force herself to not start chewing on her lip. She’d been dreading the point where the subject of bringing the infuriating hero into Global Justice cropped up. At the last full meeting of the Security Council, she had presented the plan for the Team Possible project, had it wholeheartedly endorsed and been given the clearance to offer Kim pretty much anything she wanted if she agreed to it. In terms of her personal job security, it had been a big win, but hinged on a single issue; getting Kim Possible to agree to join Global Justice. Unfortunately, the hero had not even been willing to negotiate the terms of her recruitment and continued employment, rather once again flat out refused the offer. Now the bulk of Betty’s hard work was about to come crashing down all around her.

“There’s been a slight snag with the Team Possible project.” She sighed and knew that hiding the truth would only come back to bite her on the ass sooner rather than later, “and a second as a result of it.”

The General looked pointedly at her and Dr Director could imagine an effigy of herself in the woman’s hand, a slight increase in pressure away from being turned to dust. “Two snags?”

Betty drew a slow breath in through her teeth. _She’s going to find out sooner or later._ “It is proving difficult to convince Miss Possible to join Global Justice.”

“In other words, she flat out rejected your offer,” the General interjected, expertly cutting through the sugar-coating Betty had tried to put on the issue. “And the second snag?”

“Since I spoke with her, Miss Possible has largely been absent from the field,” Dr Director replied. “I have a report suggesting that she was searching for some missing cargo last week, but that has been the extent of her activities since the incident at Mount St Helens, as far as we are aware.” While she hated to admit it, Global Justice often had a hard time finding out about the hero’s activities until after the events had been reported by the media. Granted, that could probably be put down to a lack of resources available with which to track her.

Much to her surprise, the General looked ponderous, rather than infuriated, like she had expected this news. “Let me ask you a simple question, Director. Is it your professional opinion that bringing Miss Kimberly Ann Possible into the Global Justice fold will be the key to quashing this uncontrollable surge in super-villainy and restoring some semblance of order to the world?”

Dr Director frowned, _since when is she interested in my opinion and why such a strong focus on Kim?_ She didn’t have time to deduce her superior’s motives as an answer would be expected immediately. “There are several other avenues we can…”

The General swiftly cut her off, “a simple yes or no, Director.”

While there were other options on the table, such as granting the UN the power to force the hands of its member states when it came to parting with resources, Betty had drawn up the plan for the Team Possible project because she’d strongly believed it had the greatest chance of success. “Yes,” she answered after a moment’s hesitation.

“Then perhaps it is time the issue was brought before the Security Council for debate, including, if needs be, the use of more forceful recruitment methods,” the General said and Betty could just make out a slight curl at the corners of the woman’s mouth.

“What do you mean by ‘more forceful methods’?” she quickly asked, wishing to know exactly what she had just inadvertently attached her name to.

“It seems to me that for two years now, you have been trying and failing to use a carrot to coax a stubborn mule into the stable. Perhaps it is time we tried using a stick instead.”

“What exactly are you considering?” Dr Director demanded, sensing that her superior already had a fully formed plan in mind. _What the hell have I given my approval for?_ While she herself was determined to see Kim Possible in a Global Justice uniform and would happily exert certain pressures on the girl, there were limits to how far she would be willing to go to make it happen.

“For now, that is not your concern, Director. Just remember that all decisions taken by the Security Council are for the greater good,” a brief pause, “and I’ll remind you to watch your tone in future when addressing a superior,” the General warned.

Dr Director chose to swallow a barbed comment about how she had every right to know what plans her name had just been attached to, for she did not need a reprimand about her tone to know that she currently skated on some very thin ice in regards to her position at Global Justice. “Understood, General. In the meantime, I have an alternate avenue that I intend to take the Team Possible project down, which will hopefully still help to improve the situation until such a time as I can convince Kim to join us,” she said, using the word intend as a way to try and exert some shred of control over the situation.

“Very well, Director, you may spare me the details… for now,” the General replied dismissively. “Before I go, there is one more matter that I wish to discuss. Would you care to enlighten me as to what you intend to do about last night’s jailbreak?”

 _Bastard!_ Betty swore internally. _How on earth does she know about that already? It only happened fifteen hours ago and I only found out twelve! So much for trying to keep that one from her while we try to recapture Shego._ “I have a meeting with Captain Brook’s to discuss the particulars of that incident scheduled for straight after we are done, General. Rest assured, when Shego surfaces, we **will** recapture her.”

“Be sure that you do. The last thing we need is for that,” the General paused briefly and Betty suspected she had just forced herself to swallow a much stronger word to describe Shego, “woman to take it into her head that she’s going to have a crack at world domination while Dr Lipsky is still in jail.”

“You can count on it,” Dr Director replied. _Shit! The only way I’m going to ensure Shego is recaptured is to have Kim on standby and get her in at ground zero the moment that green-skinned freak resurfaces. And I somehow doubt she’ll be willing to take my call. Fuck!_

The General then fixed her with another of her nail hammering glares. “Be under no illusions, Director. While you still retain the confidence of the Security Council, their patience has its limits.” The woman then somehow managed to intensify her gaze and Betty knew she now had three out of four nails firmly hammered into her own coffin. “Get this supervillain situation under control, Director. Now, if there is nothing else…”

While the invitation had been extended purely for the sake of etiquette and not so she could actually use it, Betty did not care. If her head was on the block, then she would do everything in her power to avoid that axe falling. “Is there any update regarding the proposal of Project Victor?”

“Not at this moment in time,” the General replied stiffly. “The ethics of that project are still a hotly debated subject amongst the members of the Security Council, alongside any possible public backlash that might be incurred, should the proposal be approved.”

It had been a longshot to hope that there had been any progress in the approval of Project Victor. While it would undeniably help bring an end to the current global crisis, she suspected the situation would have to deteriorate further before the council were willing to approve it. “Understood, General.”

“Rest assured, Director, if the time comes that it is deemed to be for the greater good, I’m sure the opposing members of the council will be persuaded into changing their stance.”

 _That’s what I’m afraid of…_ While her scientists had developed the technology for medical purposes, she’d saw the alternate use for it and drawn up the plan as a sort of last resort solution to the current crisis. And she’d known full well the ethical dilemma it posed, even found herself somewhat against its implementation. However, the Security Council had been demanding solutions to consider and she’d little else to offer at the time (the Team Possible project having not been formulated by that point). _…but I’m getting desperate._ “Understood, General.”

“Good day, Director,” the woman said, finally releasing her gaze.

“Good day, General,” Dr Director said, just before the screen went blank.

Letting out a long sigh, Betty took a long drink of her coffee and finished the last of her pastry, before turning the monitor off and pressing the intercom button on her desk. “Lieutenant, please send Captain Brooks in,” she said, her voice now far wearier than it had been before the conversation with her superior. _I need to get some proper sleep tonight._

##

The late afternoon sun had still been blazing overhead when Captain Brooks had parked her classic Shelby Mustang GT500 outside an abandoned gas station and taken the transport tube down into Global Justice HQ. Arriving in a foul mood, she’d been met by some fawning lackey, who’d bleated and babbled about how much of an honour it was to meet her until she’d commanded him to be silent. He’d quickly got the message when she’d pierced his gaze with her own and told him to, _“shoo.”_ She’d then promptly made her way to the restroom.

The Captain stood in front of the mirror and looked herself up and down. Tall and slender, Brooks had well-toned muscles, long brown hair that she wore in a tight knot, thin lips and pointed features; with grey eyes that pierced everything her gaze fell upon. And even she had not slept since the night before, it did not show in her appearance. _I despise those transport tubes. They’re so unhygienic._ Needless to say, the forced trip through the high-speed tube had only darkened her mood. Her gaze zeroed in on a singular brown hair that a gust of air from inside the tube had loosed from the knot. _Grrr,_ she growled internally and quickly undid the entire thing. It infuriated her no end that someone had seen her looking so unkempt. Expertly, she took command over her long tresses and forced each and every strand back to where they belonged. Brooks returned her gaze to the mirror and quickly found the next offender; she’d lost an eyebrow hair on the right-hand side. Her hand quickly reached into one of her belt pouches and withdrew a small manicure set. Removing a pair of tweezers, she plucked a solitary hair from her left eyebrow so that it once more matched the other. Her badge and pips then received minute adjustments on her still pristine uniform, before a glance at her shirt sleeves revealed the offending eyebrow hair. Deftly, she grasped it with the tweezers and cast it aside. With one more intense stare at her reflection, she packed away the manicure kit, _that should do it._ She then strode out of the restroom.

The command centre of Global Justice HQ was a hive of activity. Agents in grey uniforms were gathered around multiple tabletop digital maps, arguing furiously in their little groups, while others were stood with hands pressed against earpieces, as they relayed intel and instruction to operatives in the field. There were clutches of scientists in white lab coats too, debating solutions to problems with complex equations on digital whiteboards and holographic simulations of the outcomes. Then there were the runners; new recruits who had not yet earned their stripes, scurrying through the crowds, relaying messages here, there and everywhere, as they tried to absorb every aspect of the processes that were going on around them.

Captain Brooks surveyed this hotbed of chaos for a moment before letting out a snort of disdain, _such pandemonium. Things certainly would not operate this way on my watch._ Slicing through the mayhem, she made her way towards the stairs and up to the director’s office. Her piercing gaze roved over the waiting area, lingering on the Director’s frazzled looking personal assistant, who seemed to be trying to conduct three calls and juggle information on two different computer screens all at the same time. The Captain strode up to the man’s desk, casting her imposing shadow over him. While she knew him by face, she had never bothered to learn his name. “Lieutenant,” she said sharply.

The Lieutenant froze mid-sentence and his gaze sheepishly rose to meet hers. “C… Captain Brooks!” he said in alarm, even though he must have known she had been coming.

“The Director is expecting me at four-fifteen pm,” she replied and impaled his gaze with her own. “It is exactly four-fifteen pm.”

The Lieutenant’s tone was almost fearful as he said, “she’s still in a meeting...”

Brooks’ lips thinned as she glared at the man, her expression alone enough to convey that this was not a suitable reason for any delay, given that she had arrived bang on time.

“…with the General of the UN Security Council,” the man hastily added, his tone clearly saying that he was praying this would be enough to placate her. “If you have a seat, I’m sure she’ll be ready for you shortly.”

 _The General of the Security Council. Oh dear, Elizabeth. I somehow doubt that’s to commend you for a job well done._ The Captain held the man’s gaze for several seconds, feigning contemplation over whether she should devour him, before replying, “very well, Lieutenant. You may carry on.”

Brooks turned on her heel and surveyed the set of three chairs that sat on the opposite wall. A girl, dressed in blue denim shorts, a white Micky Mouse halter top that showed off her midriff, with a pair of red braces and a pair of Converse; one red, one green, sat in the middle chair. Her long hair had been dyed crimson and hung freely down her back. The Captain stiffened when a translucent pink bubble inflated from the girl’s lips and then popped. _How revolting. Elizabeth is scraping the bottom of the barrel if this is the sort of individual she’s bringing on board._ She shot the girl a look of disapproval before averting her gaze; electing to remain where she stood.

The minutes ticked by, during which Captain Brooks was subjected to a series of continued pops from the girl and her gum. Each one grated on a temper already frayed by last night’s jailbreak. The vein in her temple began to throb when the first whistle reached her ears. Loud and obnoxious, it reeked of someone purposefully trying to irritate her. She remained poker-straight; eyes fixed dead ahead, however, her lips had pursed. _I will not throttle her, I will not throttle her…_ The random notes suddenly morphed into a tune and Brooks fists clenched. _Can she get anymore…_ her thought process stopped dead in its tracks as the realisation of what tune the girl was whistling dawned on her; The Great Escape. Anger coursed through her faster than electricity in a wire and caused all her fuses to simultaneously blow. She did not know how the girl knew that Shego had escaped her custody, just that she did; the tune being far too coincidental. In a fit of blind rage, her head snapped around and she bellowed, “WILL YOU SHUT UP!”

The savage assault, which had reduced grown men twice her size to tears in the past, seemed to have no effect on the girl. Instead, a broad grin spread across her face. “Hey,” she said in a voice so upbeat that it clashed horribly with the general tired and downtrodden mood that hung over the entirety of Global Justice HQ. Then, in the blink of an eye, the girl sprang to her feet; crossing the distance between them and held out a hand. “I’m Quinn.”

The girl’s movements had been so fast that Captain Brooks almost missed them. However, she was not one to startle easily and so did not even flinch. Her expression of fury morphed into a sneer and she looked at the offered hand in disgust, _I’m not touching that, I’ve no idea where it’s been._ “Sit down, Girl, and stop making a nuisance of yourself,” she snapped sharply.

“Ouch,” Quinn said and feigned a wince, “someone’s tetchy. Although I suppose I’d be a bit tetchy too if I’d let a supervillain like Shego slip through my fingers.”

Captain Brooks’ fingernails dug into her palms and as she struggled to get her temper back under control. Through gritted teeth, she spat, “that is none of your concern, you little upstart.”

Quinn was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet when she airily replied, “I prefer the term up and coming.” The girl blew another bubble with her gum. “Who knows, maybe I’ll be the one sending you Shego next time.”

That comment did little to improve the Captain’s sour mood. “I don’t care who catches her!” _however, when I get a hold of her and her accomplice, I’m going to throw both of them into the cooler for a month!_

“Maybe you should,” Quinn said with a grin. “You want her caught and I want to catch her.” The girl’s amber eyes then lit up like a pair of floodlights. “Hey, you and I should totally team up! We could be like…”

“Most certainly not!” Captain Brooks cut in. “I don’t know who you think you are, but in Global Justice, you will show respect to your superiors.”

“I already told you who I am, silly.” Without warning, the girl did a backflip and landed perfectly back in her chair. “And I guess it’s a good thing I’m a freelancer then.”

Captain Brooks said nothing as she studied the strange girl again. _While this upstart must have some degree of skill to merit a chair outside this particular office, it seems things are worse than I feared, if Elizabeth has resorted to calling in freelancers this uncouth. Indeed, the manner in which she has leant on little Miss Kim Possible in the past is bad enough. When I’m…_

Brooks was drawn out of her musings by the voice of the Lieutenant, “Captain, the Director will see you now.”

She shot the man a look that said, _“it’s about time,”_ and strode towards the door. She’d just taken hold of the handle, when she heard Quinn sing-song, “had more than I can take, Jailbreak!”

In a fit of rage, Captain Brooks practically wrenched the door off its hinges and slammed it shut behind her.

In front of her, Dr Director rose from her chair. “Claudia, it is good to see you again,” the woman said and extended her hand towards her.

“Elizabeth,” Brooks replied sharply and took the offered hand in a vice-like grip. Her lip curled slightly when Dr Director stiffened. _She never did like being called by her full name._ Her gaze then roved over the woman, taking in her dishevelled appearance, pale complexion and slightly bloodshot and sleep-deprived eye. Only by her leave did she allow the Director to take her hand back.

“Please, make yourself comfortable,” Elizabeth then said and rather presumptuously, given that the Captain could see an almost full mug on her desk, headed towards her coffee maker. “Would you like a coffee?”

Captain Brooks’ nose wrinkled as she surveyed the chaotic mess that was the Director’s office and the chair in front of the desk. She and Elizabeth Director had been both friends and rival’s during their time as Global Justice cadets. Yet she had never before seen the woman’s quarters or workspace look so chaotic. _The burden of command must weigh heavy on you indeed, if you’ve allowed your standards to slip this far, Elizabeth._ Gingerly, she sat down, feeling somewhat surprised that the chair covering had not squelched.

“You seemed slightly frazzled when you entered, Claudia,” Dr Director said as she walked back over to the desk and set a mug down in front of her. “I hope nothing has aggravated you since your arrival.”

The Captain glanced at the large; saucerless mug and turned up her nose. _She never did know how to brew proper coffee._ She then locked onto the Director’s single eye with a penetrating gaze. “You look rather tired, Elizabeth,” she retorted. “I hope nothing has aggravated your sleep-deprived state.”

The manner in which Dr Director’s lips thinned told Brooks that the point would be conceded. While the other woman could poke her over her altercation with Quinn, that would be nothing when compared to the potential salvos she herself had just acquired from her simple observations of the Director and her unkempt office. Needless to say, the conversation swiftly moved on to the matter at hand. “What the hell happened, Claudia? We got a much-needed big win a week past Saturday; when we recaptured Dr Lipsky and Shego. However, less than two weeks later, the latter has escaped... again! And has made Global Justice a laughing stock!”

 _Don’t forget that it has also lowered the value of your stock,_ Captain Brooks thought as she listened to the unsaid accusation that Shego’s escape had been solely her fault. _I’ll wager the General gave you a serious reprimand over the whole affair._ Internally, she clenched a fist and hit it against a wall, feeling the metaphorical throb in her hand. _Unfortunately, my reputation will have taken an equal hit._ She indicated the computer terminal on the Director’s desk and said in a cold, emotionless voice, “may I?”

“By all means,” Dr Director replied and passed the wireless mouse across the desk.

The captain removed a pen drive from a pouch on her belt and inserted it into the computer tower. Opening the relevant file, she cast the image to large viewscreen behind the Director’s desk. Rising to her feet, she picked up a laser pointer and shone the small dot at a CCTV image of her penitentiary. “The inmate was housed here; in cellblock D. An analysis of the data from our systems suggests that the initial security breach occurred at 00:48 am.”

Elizabeth had turned her chair around so she could look at the viewscreen, meaning Brooks could no longer see her face. “Initial security breach?” the woman asked, her tone containing an accusatory bite. “That suggests to me that you had multiple opportunities to discover that someone had infiltrated your complex.”

Captain Brooks allowed the comment to slide and continued, “a highly sophisticated hacking device was used to shut down the laser grid between the outer and inner prison walls; on the eastern side of the complex, for about forty-five seconds.” She changed the camera feed. “We believe that the infiltrator crossed between the walls in that short timeframe. After which they traversed the yard and scaled the eastern wall of the facility; completely undetected by any of our sensors.”

“Another hack job?” Dr Director asked.

“No. As far as we can tell, only the laser grid was hacked until the perpetrator arrived outside the convict’s cell.” The captain changed the feed so that it showed the inside of a cell. Two individuals could be seen lying asleep in the bunks. She then superimposed two photographs on the left-hand side of the screen. The first showed the cell window with the bars missing and the second the bars themselves. “The second breach occurred at 00:50 am. The forcefield surrounding the window to the convict’s cell was deactivated and the camera inside fed a loop. The bars on the cell window were then cut using a high-precision tool that my staff believe was some form of laser.”

The concern in Elizabeth’s tone was palpable when she said, “it seems whoever did this is both extremely skilful and well equipped.”

“It gets worse,” Captain Brooks growled, unable to hide the anger and humiliation she felt in regards to the incident.

“Worse!” Dr Director exclaimed. “How can it get worse?”

“The infiltrator led the convict out of her cell and down into the yard.” Brooks changed the feed again so that it showed the prison yard and then switched it to thermal vision. “It took my analysts hours’ worth of work before they finally found this.” She pressed play.

“I don’t see anything.”

“Neither did the guards watching the monitors at the time,” Captain Brooks replied and then zoomed in.

“Wait, is that a…”

“Yes, a heat signature, albeit a very faint one,” Brooks confirmed. “So far, it is the only way we have been able to detect what we assume is the convict. However, there has been no way to detect the infiltrator yet.”

“So, not only did our perpetrator avoid detection by all of your sensors, but they brought something with them that made the convict almost as undetectable,” Dr Director said and the Captain did not need to see her face to know that the woman was grimacing. “I don’t like this, Claudia. This footage, or lack thereof, confirms that there is a supervillain out there with technology that rivals that of Global Justice.”

“Perhaps, Elizabeth,” Brooks said coldly.

Not seeming to have been listening to her, the Director then suddenly hammered her fist down on the arm of her chair. “Dammit! Our superior technology is one of the few advantages we have left over these hordes of supervillains! If technology that rivals ours becomes commonplace amongst our enemies, we’re sunk.”

The corners of the Captain’s lips turned upwards slightly. _My, my, I don’t think I’ve ever heard her sound so worried or even suggest that we might lose this on-going struggle. Are you becoming weary, Elizabeth? Is it perhaps time you set aside your heavy crown?_ “As I was saying,” Brooks then said, bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand, “the infiltrator led the convict, undetected, across the yard and up onto the inner wall. The laser grid was then sabotaged again and they crossed to the outer wall. However…”

“However?” Dr Director cut in, her tone conveying that she already disliked where this was headed.

“However, at 01:17 am, one of my guards looked into the convict’s cell and discovered that the bars were missing from the window. An immediate search revealed her to be gone and so the alarm was raised.” Captain Brooks changed the camera feed to the outer wall. “When the alarm is triggered, the voltage across the razor wire atop both walls is increased ten-fold. At the precise moment this occurred, there was an immediate discharge here.” She played the footage, which showed a large blue spark and above the noise of the sirens, a small explosion could be heard.”

Dr Director leapt to her feet. “That should have killed them!”

“Yes, it should have,” the Captain agreed.

When Elizabeth turned around her face was contorted in fury. “I did not give you permission to use **anything** that would be lethal to an inmate in order to prevent an escape!” she yelled; her singular eye ablaze.

“It wasn’t lethal,” Captain Brooks replied smoothly, completely unphased by the harsh reprimand.

“You were not to know that the individual that got caught in your death trap would be equipped to survive it!” the Director spat viciously.

“It’s of little consequence, Elizabeth. The fact of the…”

Dr Director cut her off, “I’ll decide if it is of consequence!” The woman then threw her hands into the air and shook her head. “Dammit, Claudia, the last thing we need right now is a fatality at your facility. An escape is bad enough.”

Captain Brooks stood; unphased as she watched the Director began to furiously rub her left temple and let out a slow, deliberate breath. Once seemingly calm, the woman then said, “ok, so the infiltrator must have been wearing some sort of suit that protected them from the shock, continue.”

“We do not know how, but not only did the infiltrator and the convict avoid hitting the minefield, they managed to clear the outer wall without discharging the razor wire a second time,” Captain Brooks said before changing the video feed again. “Once outside the wall, they followed this path,” she superimposed a line on the screen. “By this point, I had mobilised my forces and was searching for them both inside and outside the facility. I personally led the fleet of jeeps started searching the outside. We converged on the eastern side of the wall and drove out into the desert.” She paused the video when Shego appeared on the screen. “We’re not sure what happened, but the convict briefly became visible and I watched with my own eyes as she climbed into a cloaked vehicle.”

Dr Director sounded more than a little irritated when she said, “let me guess…”

“…we were unable to apprehend them and have had zero luck in finding any trace of the vehicle with any of our sensors,” Captain Brooks finished for her.”

“DAMMIT!” Dr Director roared; her fists now clenched. “Is there **anything** that might give us a clue as to who is responsible for breaking Shego out or where they might have taken her?”

“I have a theory,” the Captain said carefully, _although in my mind I’m sure of it._

“Have at it,” Elizabeth sighed, as she lowered herself back into her chair and took a sip from her coffee mug.

“This was picked up by the microphone closest to the sight of and not long after the infiltrator and convict discharged the razor wire.” Captain Brooks played the audio file. While the soundscape was dominated by the noise of the prison sirens…

“Is that a voice?” Dr Director asked and sat bolt upright.

“Correct, Elizabeth. It’s the convict’s voice. While it is difficult to make out over the noise of the sirens, I had my people isolate it as best they could.”

She played the second audio file. While it was still somewhat difficult to discern, Shego’s voice could be heard yelling, “Ki…” She then played it several more times before locking onto the Director’s gaze. “Elizabeth, I believe that the convict was in the process of uttering the name of the infiltrator,” she paused for a moment and then in her most serious voice said, “Kim. As in Kim Possible.”

The captain watched as the Director’s jaw almost hit her desk. Unfortunately, the shock was by no means in her favour. “Have you completely taken leave of your senses, Claudia!” the woman uttered in complete astonishment. “If I did not know you, I would have said you were trying to make a joke… Do you know how completely ridiculous… no, insane that theory is?”

Captain Brooks’ lips pursed. _And there she goes; immediately rising to the defence of the prissy girl that thinks she’s too good to join Global Justice. I’ll be lucky if she even allows me to explain my reasoning._ “I know you think it sounds impossible, but I have every reason to suspect that it was Kim Possible who broke the convict out last night,” she said, her voice unwavering from her standpoint.

“Kim Possible is the very reason Shego was captured in the first place!” Elizabeth replied hotly.

“That may be so, but she showed up at my facility to see the convict on Monday,” Brooks fired back, her temper beginning to rise. “I spoke to her and she was not in the least bit enamoured with the methods we use to try and keep the convict incarcerated. Methods which **you** signed off on I might add. Don’t you find it at least slightly suspicious that the following night, a well-equipped; highly skilled individual breaks into my facility and frees her? ”

“I refuse to believe that Kim Possible had anything to do with this!” Elizabeth roared and slammed her fist on the desk. “While she and I may not see eye to eye, she has never given me any reason to doubt her commitment to bringing supervillains to justice. For fuck sake, Claudia, the girl’s record has been impeccable since she was sixteen. I’ve lost count of how many different supervillains she’s sent to jail or how many times Dr Lipsky and Shego have been apprehended because of her.”

“Which is why you are so blinded to the evidence in front of you, Elizabeth!” Brooks shot back.

“What evidence!”

“Kim Possible shows up at **my** facility to see the convict and is determined that Shego be shown leniency,” Brooks reiterated, however, before the Director could respond, continued, “the following night someone with an advanced hacking tool, a personal cloaking device that cannot be detected by any of our sensors, a high precision laser cutter, a suit capable of surviving an exceptionally large electric shock **and** a cloaked vehicle, breaks the convict out and escapes with her. Who else do you know of, hero or villain, that has that amount of advanced technology and the skills to back it up? Not to mention that we can clearly hear the convict shout Kim…”

“She could have been shouting Killigan for all we know!” Dr Director retorted furiously. It seemed her patience had finally worn out. “Dr Lipsky has cloaking technology, as does Professor DeMenz and HenchCo have been selling portable laser cutters for ten a penny for three years now at least! You have nothing that links Kim Possible to Shego’s escape! End of story!”

“I will once you arrest her and allow me to interrogate her,” Brooks barked, completely incensed that her old friend could not see the woods for the trees.

“HAVE YOU GONE COMPLETELY INSANE, CLAUDIA!” Dr Director bellowed, her tone a strange mix of fury and sheer disbelief. “Do you know what will happen if I arrest Kim Possible?”

“I’ll be able to prove to you that she’s guilty.”

“No!” Elizabeth yelled forcefully and then pinched the bridge of her nose in a grip that, from Captain Brooks’ perspective, looked like it should have broken it. “At present, relations between Kim Possible and Global Justice are at an all-time low, exemplified by the fact that she’s virtually been AWOL since I spoke with her after we captured Dr Lipsky and Shego.”

“And why would that cause her to go AWOL?” the Captain interjected, somewhat curious as to what Elizabeth had done to piss the hero off so much.

Dr Director sighed, “we had an argument after I presented the plan for the Team Possible project to her and she point-blank refused to entertain it. She threatened to take a month’s holiday if Global Justice did not back off and leave her alone. I think this may be her way of demonstrating that she’s not bluffing.”

“You should never have allowed the situation to get to the stage where you were so reliant on some freelancer, Elizabeth,” Brook’s chastised. _I would never have allowed it to get to this stage._

“I’ve had no choice, Claudia!” Dr Director barked and slammed her fist on the desk again. “The Security Council ignored my warnings and refused to push for a motion that would have given me the resources I needed to tackle this crisis. Now individual nations are digging in their heels when it comes to turning over personnel and equipment to us. However, that is beside the point. If I even so much as accuse Kim Possible of something that serious, without incontrovertible proof, she could go AWOL for god knows how long.”

 _Which will create a spiralling situation beyond your control, Elizabeth, and one that almost certainly will see you ousted as the head of Global Justice. You can survive the fallout of Shego escaping, but not of losing the support Kim Possible provides you._ Knowing that nothing she said would convince the Director to do something that could easily lead to her own firing, Captain Brooks yanked her pen drive out of the computer tower. “If you’re not willing to see what’s plainly in front of you, Elizabeth, then I think we’re done here.”

Turning on her heel, she stalked towards the door, however, Dr Director called out after her, “Claudia, do **not,** under any circumstances, do anything that might antagonise Kim Possible.” The Captain took another step before her old friend added, “that’s an order, Claudia!”

Without turning around, Captain Brooks uttered, “understood, Sir,” her tone dripping with contempt. _If I have my way, that’s the last order you’ll ever give me in person._ Throwing the door open, she strode out of the office, knocking it closed behind her.

She had almost made it to the other door when a voice sing-songed, “well, that sounded fun.”

Captain Brooks turned and caught sight of the infuriatingly chirpy figure of Quinn. After her argument with Dr Director, she’d almost forgotten about the altercation with the freelancer that had preceded it. Staring daggers at the girl, she was about to rip her a new one for being so disrespectful to a Global Justice captain, when a thought struck her. _She might be obnoxious and disrespectful, but if Elizabeth has tied my hands, the same will go for any other member of Global Justice… which she is not. However, she must have done something to get Elizabeth’s attention..._ She glanced around and saw the lieutenant was not at his post. She was alone with Quinn. Without the time to sit down and weigh up the pros and cons of the situation, Brooks decided to take a cautious gamble. “You said you wanted to catch Shego, correct?” she asked the bouncy girl.

A broad grin spread across Quinn’s face. “See, I knew you’d want to team up with me!”

“Quiet,” the Captain hissed and quickly strode over to stand in front of the girl. Reaching into one of the pouches on her belt, she pulled out a card with her details on it. “If you think the Director is failing to put your talents to good use, come pay me a visit.”

Quinn took the card and somewhat impressively, made it vanish. “Will Du,” she said and her grin somehow widened.

“However, breathe one word of this conversation to the Director and you’ll lose your chance, as she’s insistent on bringing Kim Possible in to do the job,” Brooks then said in a low voice, more as a way to try and elicit the girl’s cooperation than to protect herself, for she did not need to do the latter. Even if the girl went into Elizabeth’s office and told her about the entire exchange, it would not matter. All she’d done was enquire about whether or not a freelancer would be willing to track down one of her escaped charges; something well within her prerogative to do. She’d said nothing about her other objective.

“Aye-aye, Captain,” Quinn said and gave her an overexaggerated salute.

While Brooks new the girl was not being serious, _does she take anything seriously?_ she let it slide. Turning, she once more made her way to the stairs, however, stopped with her hand on the door handle. “What’s your full name?” she then asked, upon realising that without it, she might have difficulty doing a background check on the girl. And she intended to do a very thorough background check on her before deciding whether to risk working with her.

“I’m Quinn Phy-Knight and I can do everything,” Quinn replied, extending her right arm and making a peace gesture with her fingers.

“That sounds about as ridiculous as Kim Possible,” Brooks said and opened the door. Just before she stepped through it, she added, “don’t forget what I said, Quinn Phy-Knight,” and then headed down the stairs.

At the bottom, the Captain passed the Lieutenant on his way back up but paid him no heed. Making her way through the still chaotic main operations room, she headed back to the transport tube she’d used on her way in. She had anticipated that the Director would not entertain her assertion about Kim Possible and had expected to leave Global Justice HQ in an even fouler mood than when she had arrived. Yet upon reflection, Elizabeth ignoring her might just work out in her favour. The captain left with what almost passed as a smile on her lips.

##

After the door to her office slammed shut, Betty Director rested her elbows atop her desk and put her head in her hands. Slowly she began to rub at her temples, the Tylenol having done absolutely nothing to alleviate her headache and Captain Brooks having aggravated it. _I know Claudia’s never been a fan of the relationship Global Justice has with Kim Possible, hell I’m not a fan of it, but to suggest she might have broken Shego out is unthinkable… impossible._ She sighed deeply. _I **need** to recapture Shego the second she pops up, but to do that I’m going to need Kim’s help, as I can’t spare the sheer number of operatives it would take to bring her down without her. _She picked up her coffee cup and took a long, slow drink; it had gone cold. _However, that’s a problem for another day._

Dr Director straightened up and her gaze passed over the glass panel in her office door. She frowned on seeing Captain Brooks standing at the door that led to the stairs; her head turned and clearly mid-sentence. _Who is she…_ her brain quickly reminded her that she still had a third individual to meet with, _…oh no, Quinn!_ She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. If the freelancer in the waiting area had done something to piss off the Captain, she’d wind up with a lengthy report/complaint about what rules and regulations the girl had broken and what disciplinary action should be taken. Her eyes lingered on the scene for a second, _yet she doesn’t look angry of pissed off…_ she shook her head and chose to ignore it. If a scathing report concerning Quinn landed on her desk, she’d deal with it accordingly.

Letting out a loud yawn, Betty took the opportunity to make herself a new coffee, before hitting the intercom button once more. “Lieutenant, please send Miss Phy-Knight in.”

A few seconds later, the door opened and the girl bounded in and before Dr Director could even say a word, had leapfrogged the empty chair and landed on it with a thud. “Betty!” Quinn exclaimed exuberantly, her lamp-like amber eyes wide. “Wazzup?”

Dr Director groaned internally at the freelancer’s method of sitting down, vivacious voice, use of slang and the fact that she’d just referred to her as Betty. She had no idea how the girl had even known that was her forename. _I really should have postponed this until after I’d managed to get some proper sleep. She’s going to be a nightmare._ A short video call; the only time she’d ever spoken to the girl before, was all it had taken for her to get the measure of Quinn. Louder than words, the eighteen-year-old was an uncouth firework of sass, with what felt like ADHD on speed and someone who would almost certainly push any button, just to see what sort of bang she could make. However, the numbers did not lie; Quinn Phy-Knight was a serious up and coming talent in the hero business. _I should probably count myself lucky she didn’t come in here on her damn rollerblades._ She’d seen a lot of footage of the girl in action and noted that she did almost everything while zipping around on a pair of blades and without any sort of crash protection to boot.

“It’s nice to finally meet you in person, Quinn. As you are already aware, I’m Dr Director; head of The Global Justice Network,” Betty replied, throwing in her title on the faint hope the freelancer might muster some measure of decorum and use it, even though she already knew the girl wouldn’t. She then offered her hand across the desk.

Quinn, who after saying her greeting had immediately started drumming on her knee, suddenly shot out a hand and vigorously shook the one Betty had held out. “You too, Boss Lady.”

 _Well, she’s fast and contrary to what one might think, is actually paying attention… and your classic drill sergeant’s nightmare; that rare case that will keep making the sassy comments no matter what you do to them._ Betty was about to offer Quinn a beverage, however, before she could even open her mouth, the girl picked up the untouched mug of coffee she’d made for Captain Brooks and took a drink.

“Blergh!” Quinn exclaimed, her face contorting into one of disgust. “Whoever brewed this should be fired out of a cannon and into the sun!”

“I made that beverage, Quinn,” Dr Director said through pursed lips; unable to stop herself issuing the reprimand. _Christ, I’m probably going to want to throttle her before this conversation is done. And my coffee-making skills aren’t that bad!_

“Well, let’s get you to the cannon and blast you into space, cos your coffee is rank, Lady,” Quinn said and the look in her eyes told Betty that the girl was only half-joking. “You guys have a ground to space cannon, right?”

Dr Director’s lips thinned. “That’s none of your concern,” she said, deciding it was probably unwise to tell the girl that Global Justice now did have such a weapon. _And it was a ridiculous waste of money and resources. Unfortunately, the powers that be thought a defence against a possible return of the Lorwardians was more important than the very real threat of increased supervillain activity; the fools._ Nevertheless, it seemed she had been wrong, handling Quinn wasn’t going to be a nightmare, it would be a nightmare born from the depths of hell. “Now, we need to get down to business,” she then said, deciding that she needed to get this over with asap.

She watched as her words seemed to fall on deaf ears, the freelancer now poking at the coffee mug with a pencil. “You got a soda?” Quinn then asked and after taking a sniff of the mug and wrinkling her nose, as though the contents might somehow have changed.

“In the fridge,” Betty replied wearily and pointed to the small refrigerator, “help yourself.” _I’m going to regret saying that, aren’t I?_

Quinn practically bounced out of her chair and across the room to the refrigerator, returning to her seat moments later with two cans of Pepsi and a cheese string Dr Director could not recall seeing in there. The freelancer then cracked one can open, took a long drink and then took a bite out of the cheese string. “So,” the girl said with her mouth full, “what’s the crack?”

 _Great, just what she needs, sugar plus caffeine._ Betty rubbed her left temple and chose to let the liberties the girl had taken inside her refrigerator slide. _This is all for the greater good._ “As I told you when we last spoke, your recent activities have merited your…”

“Is this in date?” Quinn interrupted, indicating the cheese string. The comment rendered Dr Director temporarily speechless and before she had a chance to answer, the girl shrugged her shoulders, “meh,” and took another bite.

“As I was saying,” Betty uttered firmly through semi-gritted teeth, “your recent activities have merited you a place as a member of the Team Possible project.”

“Ooh, do I get to duke it out with Kimmie Possible now?” the freelancer asked eagerly, fireworks practically exploding behind her amber eyes.

“I am afraid not,” Dr Director replied, unable to keep all the bitterness she felt towards Kim from her tone. “There has been an unfortunate snag with the Project that has required a temporary rethink.”

Quinn folded her arms across her chest and huffed, “awww phoey!”

“At present, we are having difficulty in agreeing terms with Kim and so the main part of the project, namely yourself and the other candidates learning from her, has been put on hold…”

“Pfft. I wanted to go girl on girl with Kimmie.”

“… **however** ,” Dr Director emphasised, “I’ve called you in because of the six candidates, you are the only one with the right attributes for the stop-gap plan we’ve drawn up.” _And believe me, if any of the other candidates had been suitable, I would have taken them over you in a heartbeat._ Internally, she shook her head. _No point bemoaning my bad luck, I need to work with what I’ve got. Besides, her grating mannerisms aside, the numbers clearly rank her as the best of the six._

Quinn’s eyes lit up again. “You want me to go tie up Kimmie Possible and drag her in for you?”

“ **No,** ” Dr Director said quickly and firmly, suspecting that if she didn’t, the girl would bolt to go and attempt to do just that. “I’ll be tackling the problems we’re having with Kim myself. I have something else in mind for you.” She rooted around amidst the files on her desk until she found the one she was looking for and then held it out for the freelancer to take. “I want you to get close to this individual.”

The girl looked at the file, tilted her head this way and that, ducked to look under it and then screwed up her eyes. “That doesn’t look like a person, just a file with a coffee ring on it.”

Dr Director pinched the bridge of her nose for what felt like the umpteenth time since her meeting with the General and shook her head. _It’s all just an act… surely her behaviour is all just an act…_ “The individual whose details are **inside** the file.”

“Ohh,” Quinn said thoughtfully, sounding very much like her airheadedness had been genuine. The girl then took the file from Betty’s hand and opened it. “Ooh, he’s cute, in a dorky sort of way,” she exclaimed, before adding, “is he single?”

“As far as we are aware, yes.” _Well, that might just make life a little easier._ “We’re going to set up a situation that will allow you to meet him and hopefully get him to talk to you. However, the details of that can wait until after you’ve had a chance to read and digest his file…”

“Finished!” Quinn cut in, like she had just been the first to finish a test in school. As if to demonstrate that she had indeed read the whole thing, the girl withdrew the single sheet of paper it contained and turned the file upside down to show there was nothing else inside.

“Not quite,” Betty said, a thin smile forming on her lips. She picked up a pen drive from her desk and held it out. “If I’d printed his whole file, it would have been more than half an inch thick.”

“Aww man, I hate textbook work,” Quinn moaned as she took the pen drive.

Betty watched as the freelancers look of disgust quickly vanished and she pulled out what looked like a heavily modified touch screen phone.

“Yo, Jade,” Quinn said, completely ignoring the fact she had been mid-conversation, “I got a homework task for ya.” The freelancer then plugged the pen drive into a port on her modified phone. “Give this a read for me and send me the clip-notes when you’re done, will ya?”

Dr Director made a not so subtle throat-clearing gesture.

Quinn turned to look at her and lowered the phone for a moment to say, “it’s Jade; my tech whiz and brainiac.” She then held out the device for a moment, asked, “do you like my phy-Phone? Jade modified it for me,” before returning it to her ear.

Knowing that there would be no point in trying to derail the girl, as she was like a bullet train that could zip across multiple tracks at will, Betty took the opportunity to take a long drink of her coffee. When Quinn had finished fobbing off her ‘homework’ to her ‘brainiac’ and hung up, the Director looked pointedly at her. “Read that file yourself, Quinn,” she said, even though she already knew the girl would do no such thing, however, she felt the need to at least issue the order.

The freelancer drained her first can of Pepsi and opened the second. “So, does this mean you want me to join GJ?”

The thought of inducting Quinn into Global Justice sent a shiver down Dr Director’s spine. _While that’s the long-term plan, I think I’ll be keeping Team Possible as our black ops division, whose existence will be so secret that they can’t possibly be allowed to be seen by the rest of the organisation… or by anyone from the Security Council._ “Not at present. There are certain rules, standards and methods that Global Justice operatives must adhere to and employ, which might hinder both the task I’ve assigned you and the wider Team Possible project as a whole.” _That and sticking to them has utterly failed to produce another Kim Possible._

“Woo-hoo, no rules!”

“Back to the matter at hand, once you have met the target, I want you to befriend him in any way you can,” Betty continued, feeling the need to hurry things along so she could go and eat a proper meal and catch so much needed shut-eye.

“So, he’s fair game for boyfriend material?” Quinn said eagerly.

Dr Director paused for a brief moment to consider this. “That might be an ideal outcome,” she said carefully, “however, do not force the issue; friendship should still suffice. If you are having difficulty with that, get creative and be persistent,” _something I doubt she’ll have an issue with. I bet she’s as persistent as a jackhammer._

Quinn gave her a wolfish grin, “aye-aye, Boss Lady.”

She sighed internally, _she’s going to pounce on him, tell him she’s now his girlfriend and then drag him around with her until he gives in, isn’t she?_ “Once you befriend him, try and get him involved with your work. If needs be, offer to pay him for his assistance. Global Justice will cover any outlay you have to spend.”

“Gotcha. Seduce, snog and shanghai.”

“It would be **preferable** ,” Dr Director said, placing as much emphasis on the word as she could, “if you convinced him to work with you of his own accord, rather than shanghaiing him into your service,” _or your bedroom!_ She then fixed the girl with as piercing a stare from her one eye as her sleep-deprived state would allow.

“Urgh, fine, I’ll play nice, but you better not sap anymore of the fun out of it, “ Quinn pouted.

 _I’ll take that as a win._ “Glad to hear it. I’ll be in touch once the arrangements have been made for you to meet the target. Until then, busy yourself with reading that file, as it contains everything you should need to know in order to succeed with the opening phase of the mission. I’ll instruct you further at the appropriate point in time.”

The freelancer gave her a cheeky smile that told her she had no intention of doing her homework. “Sure thing, Betts.” There was a loud clatter as the back of the chair Quinn had been sitting in hit the floor, as the girl backflipped out of it. “Guess I’ll catch you later.”

 _Betts!_ Dr Director growled internally. _It was bad enough her calling me Betty. And I did not dismiss her!_ However, she knew it would be utterly pointless to reprimand the girl over her conduct. _I just hope once everything’s in place that Kim can find a way of keeping her somewhat under control._ It was at having that thought that her brain reminded her of how they kept Shego under control in prison and then to Captain Brooks. Something about the brief glimpse she’d seen of the woman in the corridor still bugged her and compelled her to ask, “one more thing before you go, Quinn. What did Captain Brooks say to you out in the hallway before she left?”

A grin spread from ear to ear on Quinn’s face and then in a scarily accurate impersonation of the Captain herself, replied, “I don’t know who you think you are, but in Global Justice, you will show respect to your superiors.”

Dr Director almost choked on a laugh and had to wipe a tear away from her eye. “That certainly sounds about right.” _I guess that will be a fat report landing on my desk in regards to what rules and regulations she’s supposedly broken and what her punishment should be._ “Very well, Quinn. You may leave.”

The freelancer twirled around and bounced out of her office, leaving Betty once more by herself. It had been a difficult day, week, month… she’d lost track of how long it had been since she’d last had a non-bad day. Letting out a loud yawn, she drained the last of her coffee and wearily rose from her chair. It was time for a good meal and some…

Overhead, a red warning light began to flash as a loud siren sounded.

“No…” Dr Director almost cried at having been so close to the promised land of food and sleep. Sighing, she forced her agony aside and put on her game face. _I swear if this is another army of monkeys trying to take over the Forbidden City, I’ll personally shove a banana up Monkey Fist’s backside!_ In a tornado of rage and determination, Betty stormed out of her office and down into the situation room. It was time to save the world again.


	59. S217(U7): Mother loves her baby...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, chapter two of two. I don't have too much to say about this one, other than the chapter title is another lyric from Pink Floyd's The Wall (as a lot of the chapters involving Ann seem to be), however, this time it comes from The Thin Ice and not from Mother (seriously, I've milked that track for all but one of its suitable chapter title lyrics, which I'm saving for later). So, enjoy and I'll see you all at the end.

Ann Possible had never considered herself a bad mother. Not even when she and her husband had been forced to work long, erratic hours and leave their young daughter in the care of her grandmother for extended periods, nor when her sons had injured themselves after copying one of Adrena Lynn’s stunts. No, she’d always found some way of rationalising and explaining unfortunate situations that had befallen her children, which did not land herself in the crosshairs of the rifle labelled ‘Bad Parent’. In fact, she had ample reason to be proud of her parenting skills and those of her husband’s.

While her sons could be cheeky monkeys of the highest order at times, she had both spotted and nurtured their high intellect from an early age, resulting in them getting ready for their senior year of high school at only fourteen. She’d also supported their non-academic activities, such as playing soccer, too. And while they did not socialise with people other than themselves as much as she would like, that was an issue faced by the parents of most twins, although it in her case it became squared once you factored in her sons’ genius-level intellects. Nevertheless, she and her husband had done a good job raising them.

Then there was her daughter, who had been a perfect straight-A student, with barely a blemish on her academic record and who’d had her pick of virtually any college in the country and many abroad. She’d also been captain of the cheer squad since the end of her freshman year and won multiple regional championships. Not only that, but Ann and her husband had instilled in Kim a strong moral code that she had taken to heart. And all of that was before considering the small matter of Kim having saved the world on countless occasions. Taking all that into consideration, she should have been proud that she had raised her daughter to be such a force for good in the world, right?

Ann sighed, her gaze drifting out of the kitchen window; it was raining. She was proud of Kim’s phenomenal accomplishments. How could she not be? Yet at the same time, she’d recently begun to feel like the worst mother in the world. Her daughter’s high-octane lifestyle resulted in her risking both her life and injury on a daily basis, the latter of which seemed to occur far more than the girl had ever let on. And over the past eighteen months, ever since she’d broken up with her boyfriend, Kim had slowly become more and more reclusive. To the point that Ann suspected she rarely saw anyone face to face that was not in some way related to her current mission. And she’d virtually given up on the idea of her daughter having some sort of social life. Regardless, as the girl’s mother, she could not help but feel responsible for the current state of her daughter’s life.

Over the past couple of weeks, ever since she’d released Kim from ‘house arrest’, memories of points where she could, no, should have intervened in her daughter’s life, had played over and over again inside Ann’s head. The aforementioned period where she’d been forced to leave Kim in the care of her grandmother being the starting point. _If I’d only paid less attention to my career; to trying to build a stable future for my family and focused on the then and there, maybe I would have had a closer relationship with her... been there for her._ And while she had thought it a great thing at the time, Kim learning to be so independent from such a young age had contributed a lot to how she had developed as she’d grown up. _We encouraged her independence so much that by the time she’d reached high school, she probably could have lived by herself without much issue, assuming she learned to curtail her expenditure at Club Banana._ Then there had been her ‘babysitting website’, something else they had wholeheartedly encouraged her to pursue.

A hollow laugh echoed around inside Ann’s head. _If not for us encouraging her to do such a normal teenage girl thing like babysitting at that point in time, she might never have created that website, helped that first client and consequently never gotten involved in the whole hero business. She’d probably be getting ready to start her third year at college and my worries would be limited to how much she might be partying and what boys she might be dating… the worries of a normal mother._ Unfortunately, her failings as a mother did not end there. She could remember perfectly the morning Kim had come down the stairs for breakfast and told the family about how she had saved Mr McHenry from his own vault security system and how she’d decided to use her website to help people, rather than to get babysitting jobs. Ann laughed internally again, _James and I had been so proud of her for deciding to do something so selfless and helpful for the community. If I’d known where it would lead, I would have put a stop to it then and there…_

“Umm, Mrs Dr P…”

Ann jumped upon hearing the voice, now realising that she’d been staring out of the kitchen window instead of plating up the cookies she’d baked that morning. She turned and found the freckled face and brown eyes of Ron Stoppable staring at her.

“…do you really have cookies, or was that just a ruse to get us all over here?”

She shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of the last thoughts pertaining to how and when she should have prevented things from getting to this stage. “Sorry, Ron,” Ann replied and began transferring the cookies from a baking sheet to the plate. “They’re just coming. If you wouldn’t mind taking that tray through to the living room for me, I’ll be right behind you,” she pointed to a large tray containing empty glasses, a picture of iced tea and a couple of soda cans.

“Ok, but not going to lie, if those cookies don’t have extra chocolate chips in them, I’m going to be disappointed,” Ron replied and picked up the tray.

Ann laughed, “when have my cookies ever disappointed you, Ron?” When the boy turned his back to her and headed out of the kitchen, she let out a low sigh. _Why couldn’t you have taken life more seriously, Ron? If you had, Kim might not have ended things with you and then she’d at least still have one person in her life._ She shook her head again and picked up the plate of cookies. _No point crying over leaked brain fluid. I need to focus on what is and how we’re going to help Kim._

Following Ron out of the kitchen, Ann entered the lounge and sat the plate of cookies down on the table. No sooner had it touched the surface and three hands shot out and grabbed one. She gave each of the offenders a stern look. “Mind your manners, boys.” She then gave her two polite guests a warm smile. “Thank you all for coming. It means a lot to have you all here.”

“Umm, Mom, shouldn’t we wait till Kim gets here?” Jim asked through a mouthful of cookie.

“You told me Kim would **not** be here!” Monique said angrily and motioned to get up. “I’m out of here.”

Ann quickly turned her attention to the girl. “Kim won’t be here, Monique,” she said in a placating tone and then hastily added, almost pleading, “please, don’t leave.”

The girl settled down in her chair again, as two voices spoke at once, the first was Tim, who addressed her by saying, “what’s the point of having an intervention if the person whose life we’re supposed to be intervening in isn’t going to be here, Mom?”

The second voice belonged to Wade, who asked Monique, “if you don’t want to even see Kim, why did you agree to come?”

Before she had the chance to answer one son, the other added, “and why isn’t dad here? How come he got to escape?”

Ann looked at her sons and replied to both questions. “Kim isn’t coming because this isn’t an intervention,” _at least not yet,_ “and your father isn’t here because he had something important he needed to do,” _that I needed him to do._

As she finished answering her son’s questions, she heard Monique say harshly to Wade, “I came as a personal favour to Mrs Dr Possible, that’s it.”

“Oh my god, I’ve so missed your cookies!”

Ann, along with everyone else in the room turned to stare at Ron.

“What?” Ron asked, a look of confusion on his face. “I haven’t had any of these in over two years.”

She watched Rufus appear on the boy’s shoulder; a cookie clasped in his tiny paws. “Uh-hu, uh-hu,” he added with an emphatic nod of his head and then promptly took a bite. “Mmm, yum-yum.”

Ann laughed internally, _he always had a knack for inadvertently lightening the mood in a room._ “Ok,” she breathed, as she poured herself a glass of iced tea, “just to be clear, this is not an intervention and Kim won’t be joining us.” She took a sip from the glass and sat down in the armchair that she had deliberately placed facing the sofa on which everyone else was sat. “However, she is the reason why I’ve asked you all to come here today.” She sighed upon reminding herself of the reality of her next point, “as some of you already know, Kim is currently unwilling to even take a call from me, much less talk to me face to face.”

“That’s the understatement of the year, Mom,” Jim snorted and grabbed a can of soda from the table.

“Yeah, she literally stormed out on you after you inflicted her upon us for two whole weeks,” Tim added.

Ann opened her mouth to reply, but the second one twin finished, the other jumped straight back in. “She was a total bitch to us that whole time, even when we purposefully tried to keep out of her way and not annoy her.”

It had always amazed her how her sons managed to converse like that. It was literally like they were one person in two bodies. _Granted, that might explain why they’re so short._ She quickly batted the thought aside and glared at her son. “Jim, watch your language. And don’t talk about Kim like that; she’s your sister.”

She’d just released her son’s gaze when she heard Monique say to Tim, “you guys too, huh?”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down a minute,” Ron then said above everyone. “What do you mean by inflicted her upon you? It’s not like she’s been mutated into some sort of disease by some supervillain, right?”

Once again everyone turned to look at the blonde-haired boy and Ann raised a hand to cover her eyes and shook her head. _He always did have the most overactive imagination I’ve ever encountered. I wonder what an MRI scan of his brain would look like?_

“What?” Ron asked incredulously for the second time. “Drakken could easily have turned her into some sort of Kimona virus and unleashed her upon us.”

“Ron, even for Dr Drakken, that plan is bonkers,” Wade said and lightly patted the blonde-haired boy on the shoulder.

“Kim has not been mutated, had her DNA scrambled or fallen victim to any other sort of supervillain plot to take over the world,” _that I’m aware of,_ Ann replied firmly. “She’s just having a bad time of it at the moment, that’s resulted in her having a lot to work through. And I genuinely think she could use some help from her friends and family, but has become so entrenched in her ‘I can do anything’ approach to life, that she’s forgotten how to ask for it.”

Much to her dismay, Jim and Tim decided to paint over her whitewash of what had happened between herself and Kim with **a** full-colour version of events; the pair seamlessly trading off one another like they knew exactly when and where the other would finish.

“Kim got injured while fighting Shego and became sick as a result,” Jim began.

“So, mom asked us to create a device that she could put on her to stop her leaving while she recovered,” Tim continued.

“Yeah, but she didn’t tell us that she’d be keeping her here for two whole weeks!”

“Needless to say, Kim was pissed as a hornet and started punching holes in her bedroom walls as a result.”

“Which meant dad had to hang a punching bag in her room to stop her knocking the whole house down.”

“And she was a downright bi…” Tim hastily stopped mid-sentence when she glared at him and instead chose to finish with, “…was downright nasty to everyone for the whole two weeks.”

Ann’s eyes shifted to Ron, who looked utterly stunned upon hearing her sons’ recitation of events. “What was she so mad at?” he asked and then quickly added, “aside from being kept under house arrest.”

“Shego,” Wade replied simply, before helping himself to a cookie and soda. “Kim was hellbent on catching her and putting her in jail from the moment Mrs Dr Possible let her out.”

“Don’t you mean since she lost that fight?” Monique countered, her normally light tone still laden with frost.

Ann fixed Ron with a serious expression. “She wasn’t angry when you spoke to her last week?”

This time it was only Monique who turned to stare at the blonde-haired boy; Wade having already been aware that he had spoken to Kim and her son more interested in munching more cookies. “Wait a minute, you talked to Kim and are still alive?” the girl asked, her expression a strange mix of shock, confusion and sheer amazement. “I mean I am not going to defend how she’s been acting recently, but last time you guys spoke, you were downright nasty to her and I thought she was going to kill you, literally.”

Ann’s lips thinned slightly, as her gaze moved between her daughter’s former best friend and best girl. “Neither of you told me that.” While both Ron and Monique had both told her that the former had argued with Kim in a nightclub, neither had mentioned the severity of the altercation.

Both boy and girl looked slightly sheepish under her intense stare and it was Monique who responded first. “I neither wanted to repeat what he said,” the girl shot Ron a glare, “nor thought Kim would thank me for telling you. And I’d still been labouring under the delusion that she’d tell you herself.”

“And what’s your excuse, Ronald?” Ann asked, not best pleased that something this big had been kept from her, but also regretting that she had to find out such things second hand. She sighed internally, _why couldn’t you have told me this when we talked, Kim?_

“Look, I’m not proud of what I said to Kim that night and I regret that I did, ok… and I thought you might kill me if I told you.” As Ron finished, she intensified her stare, causing him to shrink back into the sofa slightly. He let out a forced laugh, “it’s all good now. I apologised to Kim, she didn’t kill me and we ate Oreo’s and drank coffee…” he briefly met her gaze as he added, “so, I don’t have to tell you… right?”

Before she had the chance to either let him off the hook or ‘encourage’ him to tell her; she didn’t know which she would have chosen, Jim cut in, “uh, Mom, isn’t this whole thing,” he indicated the group with his hand, “one of the reasons Kim’s so pissed off with you in the first place?”

“Yeah,” Tim added. “Isn’t she sick fed up of you talking to people about her behind her back?”

Ann rounded on her sons and a split second was all it took for her to lose control of her temper. “You think I don’t know that!” she barked rhetorically. However, the moment they both shied away from her, she felt a torrent of guilt, both at how she had just reacted to her sons’ insinuations and at the fact that she knew they were correct. The corners of her eyes began to prick and she could not stop the words that followed from tumbling out of her mouth. “I’m just so worried about her. It broke my heart when we fell out over her not going to college and I was overjoyed when she finally allowed me the opportunity to apologise and start mending the bridge. However, after she moved into her apartment, she slowly stopped telling me things until it eventually became a struggle to get her to come over or talk to me. Not to mention the injuries she’s picked up over the past two years.”

As she spoke, Monique stood up from the sofa and came over to sit on the arm of her chair; pulling her into a hug. “It’s ok,” the girl soothed once Ann had finished pouring her heart out. “We all know how much Kim means to you and how incredibly selfish she’s been.” While Monique had tried to keep a level tone, she could still hear the bite in the second half of the girl’s sentence.

Ann took in a steadying breath, “I’ll be ok.” She then wiped the corners of her eyes on a tissue, slightly surprised that the floodgates had not opened the moment she’d lost control of her tongue. She then turned to look at her sons. “I’m sorry boys,” she said sincerely. “You’re both right, but since Kim won’t even talk to me at present, I’m not sure what else to do except for talk to the people who are closest to her,” _or at least this is the evil she’ll hate me the least for doing._

Given that they each had one free ‘you can’t yell at me’ credit, the twins decided to cash them in. “So, why are we here?” Jim asked, which was seamlessly followed by Tim saying, “and how come Dad got to escape?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head, as she knew she had to let the recitation of their earlier questions pass without reprimand. “You’re both here because Kim is your sister and because the two of you look after her car, which means you are two of a select few individuals,” she indicated the rest of the group, “that she has actually spoken to in the past couple of months,” _and I never thought I’d ever say that._ She then let out an audible sigh and decided that she’d rather tell the truth over having to fend off further questions about where her husband was. “Your father’s not here because he’s gone to see Kim.”

Both Jim and Tim dropped the cookies they were holding and their mouth fell open.

“Has he gone mad?” Jim asked incredulously.

“Or suicidal?” Tim added.

“Why would she even be home?” Jim then asked. “It’s after nine am on a weekday. Surely she’ll be out on a mission.”

“Maybe that’s the idea,” Tim replied. “He goes over there when he knows she’ll be out, so he can at least say he tried. Pretty sneaky if you ask me.”

“No, she’s home,” Wade then said. “Unless she’s gone out without her Kimmunicator and Kim never goes out without her Kimmunicator. Although it does occasionally drop off the radar for a couple of hours, but that’s probably just because she’s forgotten to charge the power cell. I keep telling her it has a long lifespan, but it’s not infinite. Not even I can bend the laws of physics that far.”

While the tech guru seemed to have missed it, owing to the fact that he did not quiz them, Ann did not fail to notice the knowing look that passed between her sons and she could tell that they had wordlessly just said, _“hicka-bicka-bo,”_ and _“hoo-sha!”_ Undoubtedly, they were the reason for Kim’s Kimmunicator dropping off the radar. However, while it raised the question of what Kim might be doing that had resulted in her asking her brothers for something that could block the Kimmunicator’s signal, at present, it did not matter.

“Seriously, people, what’s all the hoo-ha about?” Ron then asked. “KP was perfectly fine when I spoke to her last week.”

It was only on hearing Ron reiterate that Kim had seemed fine when he had spoken to her, that Ann recalled that this had been her original point of enquiry. “Are you sure she didn’t seem in any way angry, Ron?”

“Positive, Mrs Dr P,” Ron reaffirmed. “No anger, rage or wrath to be seen or heard and that was while talking to me.”

“She was a lot calmer when I spoke to her too,” Wade concurred. “While she got a bit annoyed when I told her I called Global Justice to assist her with Drakken and Shego, she quickly calmed down and even apologised to me for, as she put it, treating me like shit.”

Ann raised an eyebrow at the tech guru’s use of the expletive, but let him off with only that, as he’d simply been paraphrasing something Kim had said to him.

“At least someone got an apology out of her,” Monique said bitterly as she stood up and went back to sit down on the sofa.

“The point is, it sounds like she’s calmed down a lot since she put Shego in jail,” Wade said, then added, “although, she did just break out.”

“What!” Ann exclaimed, however, she was not the only one. Both Ron and Monique had said the exact same thing.

Ron was then first to react further, “awww man, can’t GJ keep her locked up for more than a couple of days! What are we paying those guys for?”

“There goes any chance of a rational Kim then,” Monique snorted in disgust.

Ann zeroed her gaze in on Wade. “Does Kim know yet?” she asked. _Great, they bring me a shred of good news regarding Kim and it’s probably about to be undone by Shego. Why does everything relating to Kim always seem to come back to that infernal woman?_

“Yeah, I told her late last night,” Wade answered.

Ann immediately sighed and shook her head. “Please tell me that Kim’s not hellbent on chasing after her again, so she can send her back to jail.”

The tech guru made her wait for several agonising seconds while he drank from his soda can, before replying, “actually, she was perfectly calm when I told her. In fact, if you ask me, she took it almost too well, given how angry she was at Shego in between their fights at the communications centre and Mount St Helens.”

 _Ok,_ Ann breathed, _on the plus side, it’s good that Kim’s no longer that angry, even upon discovering that Shego’s broken out of jail. However, that raises its own questions that I don’t have any answers for at present._

“Look, I don’t know what the hell is going on inside that girl’s head right now and quite frankly I don’t care anymore, but that’s certainly not how I would have imagined her reacting to finding out Shego had just broken out of jail,” Monique said darkly. “In fact, I’m astonished that she wasn’t packing her bags while you were still talking to her, Wade.”

“Maybe she beat Shego up enough the last time they fought,” Jim said.

“Or maybe Kim was loaded up on those happy pills mom gave her when she was injured,” Tim suggested.

“Unless she’s called in some serious favours that someone in the medical or pharmaceutical field owes her, or still has some of that codeine she was prescribed for her back several months ago, I doubt she was high on painkillers,” Ann replied. “Besides, Kim’s too stubborn to take painkillers unless she absolutely has to,” _and I refuse to believe she’d be stupid enough to try anything illicit._

“While she certainly wasn’t high, her pupils were quite dilated, Mrs Dr Possible,” Wade then said. “It’s possible she had something in her system, but not enough to result in such a laid-back reaction to the news that Shego’s on the loose again.”

Ann’s face fell slightly upon hearing this and doctor mode immediately kicked in. “Did you notice anything else about her that might suggest that she’s injured, Wade? Anything at all?” _If she’s injured to a degree that she’s taking that codeine she got prescribed, it won’t be insignificant… please don’t be hurt, Kim._

“Sorry, Mrs Dr Possible, but I didn’t notice anything else,” Wade replied.

“That’s ok, Wade,” she said softly, but with a hint of worry in her tone. “James will hopefully be able to see if something is wrong with her,” _at least once I tell him to be on the lookout._ She withdrew her cell phone from her pocket and sent him a quick message asking him to do just that. _However, getting Kim to let me look at it will be an entirely different story._ “Ok, on the basis that Kim wasn’t loopy on painkillers last night, why else might she have been so laid-back on hearing about Shego’s escape?”

“One too many bonks to the head?” Ron offered.

While the rest of the group each gave the blonde-haired boy a ‘seriously’ expression, Ann gave the suggestion due consideration. _A head injury could have resulted in such a reaction, which would also account for why she’s taken some of that codeine._ “It is a possibility, Ron. However, until James gets back to me, I’m going to work on blind hope and say it’s not because of an injury.”

“If she’s no longer angry, then she’s probably happy that green-skinned freak is on the loose again, as that way she’ll get to fight her,” Monique said.

While the girl’s tone had contained more than a lick of sarcasm, her words had delivered the theory that Ann had hoped no one would pitch; the one that she herself had started to formulate the night before Shego had been arrested. However, instead of coming out with it, she elected to test the waters a little more. “Is it possible that Kim genuinely enjoys fighting Shego?” While she had asked the room at large, there was one individual whose opinion in particular she wanted on the matter.

Everyone, Ann included, turned to stare at Ron.

“Why do you people keep looking at me!” Ron yelled irritably.

“Duh, because you were Kim’s sidekick for years,” Jim said with a roll of his eyes.

“Shouldn’t that be ‘doy’ in this instance?” Tim asked his brother.

Jim turned to look at him and sniggered, “oh yeah.” He then turned back to Ron. “Doy, because you were Kim’s sidekick for years.”

“But that doesn’t mean I…” Ron blurted out, but quickly lost his train of thought.

“Actually, Ron, they have a point,” Wade the let out a laugh as he said, “it should be doy **and** because you were Kim’s sidekick for years. You’ve seen her interact with Shego more than anyone, save Dr Drakken. And somehow I doubt he’d have come if Mrs Dr Possible had invited him.”

“What they all said,” Monique chipped in.

Ann focused her attention on the blonde-haired boy. “Well, Ron, do you think Kim enjoys fighting with Shego?”

“I don’t know… maybe…” Ron mumbled in a non-committal sort of way and she could tell he was trying to weasel out of given his honest opinion.

“Ron,” she emphasised, putting the boy under another intense stare.

For a moment, the blonde-haired boy held her gaze, but then quickly crumbled. “Ok, fine! Kim likes fighting with Shego. Are you happy?” he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. However, before anyone could get a word in, he started to rant. “After she turned pro, all Kim would talk about was her missions. And every time she stopped Drakken from taking over the world, all I’d hear when she got home would be how Shego did this or she’d had to do that to avoid this plasma blast or…” Ron had got to his feet and started pacing back and forth while waving his hands about.

“Ok, Ron, we…” Ann began but was cut off.

“…or how she’d surprised Shego with this new jumping four-front-kick combo she’d developed or how she’d only barely avoided getting her face clawed off…”

“Ron…”

“…I mean seriously, Kim, can we talk about something other than Shego. It’s almost like your having some sort of weird, martial arts affair with her. Which is still cheating!” With that final outburst, Ron finally ran out of breath.

“I think we all get the picture now, Ron,” Ann said in dismay, the boy’s rant having provided all the evidence she needed to confirm at least part of her theory.

She watched Wade offer Ron a soda, which he took and drank deeply from. However, the blonde-haired boy then caught her by surprise with what he had to say next. “The only time I had to put up with Shego getting between me and Kim more was when she was Miss Go and literally got between us. The two of them became some sort of weird super best friends overnight! And I’m not going to lie, it was creepy and weird and Shego had Kim doing crazy stuff like going to art exhibitions or watching chic-flicks.”

“You mean, things you didn’t want to do,” Monique said, effortlessly cutting to the crux of the blonde-haired boy’s particular issue with regards to the whole Miss Go debacle.

Ron’s voice then did that strange thing it had a habit of doing, whereby it started out nice and calm and quickly ratcheted up in pitch and volume as he said, “they went to get their eyebrows waxed, Monique. Eyebrows! I mean who even does that!”

“Urgh, no wonder she dumped you,” Monique retorted scornfully. “And any woman with a shred of style occasionally gets her eyebrows waxed!”

Sensing that this could quickly devolve into a petty argument, Ann quickly moved to redirect the conversation back to the matter at hand. “You’re point about Miss Go is an apt one, Ron. Kim, despite how outgoing and social she used to be, always had difficulty in making close friends. In fact, bar one exception, the three of you make up her entire list from pre-K to the present day. Yet virtually overnight, she formed a friendship with Miss Go that ran almost as deep as the one you shared with her, Ron, and after she returned to being Shego, Kim practically pined after her for weeks.” She paused, unsure of how she intended to word the notion. It seemed that after almost two weeks, she still struggled to come to terms with her own theory. “I guess what I’m getting at is… is there the slightest chance that Kim might have tried to befriend Shego again?”

The immediate knee-jerk reactions Ann received almost managed to settle the matter in her head as having been ridiculous; exactly what she’d hoped for.

“no, no, no, no, NO!” Ron yelled; shaking his head, his voice once again ascending from quiet to deafening. 

“Mom, has someone operated on your brain and messed about with the wiring?” Jim asked incredulously.

“That’s completely bonkers, Mom,” Tim exclaimed.

“I’ve got to admit, that does sound more than a little improbable, Mrs Dr Possible,” Wade agreed, trying to be kind about how mental she obviously sounded.

However, one individual did not respond and it was to her that Ann looked for final reassurance that she’d hit the hippocampus when aiming for the temporal lobe. “Monique?” she asked and realised that she felt slightly nervous about hearing the girl’s answer. Like she was afraid of the potential can of worms that Kim trying to be friends with Shego might unleash, even though the girl’s answer would by no means serve as proof of the theory.

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Monique answered after a few moments of contemplation. “Not only is Kim crazy enough to try something that… well, crazy, but she’s totally obsessed with Shego.”

Ann’s face fell slightly on hearing words of agreement and she had a bad feeling that once the shock factor wore off, that the others would come to the same conclusion. _Unfortunately, as we like to say in this family, nothing’s impossible for a Possible, even trying to make friends with our enemies._

“I suppose when we add recent events to what Ron’s just told us, there is evidence to suggest that Monique’s right about Kim being obsessed with Shego,” Wade said as he scratched his chin. “And she does make a living out of doing things everyone else would consider crazy. However, friendship is a two-player game. Shego would have to be willing to pick up the other control pad.”

“Look, while no one’s going to say that Kim can’t be a little bit crazy sometimes, Shego is her nemesis, people. Nemesis!” Ron said loudly. “I mean they both get off on fighting one another, have a lot in common like shopping, fashion, art, similar taste in movies, dates at fancy restaurants, rollerblading, getting their eyebrows waxed…” he overemphasised that last point before stopping abruptly, “…aww man, they’re practically made for one another!”

 _That’s the realisation I’m afraid Kim might have come to._ Ann took a drink of her iced tea and when she lowered the glass, found her sons staring intently at her.

“What aren’t you telling us, Mom?” Jim asked.

“Yeah, what are you hiding?” Tim pressed.

Both boys tones clearly saying that they knew she had not told the whole story.

All eyes turned to stare at her.

“It would probably help if you told us everything, Mrs Dr Possible,” Wade said. “I’m assuming whatever it is, is the foundation for your theory.”

“It’s…” Ann began but paused when she realised she did not know if she had been about to say, ‘it’s nothing,’ or divulge what she’d heard Kim say in her fever dream. _Do I have any right to divulge what Kim said in her sleep that night? I’ve not even had the chance to ask her about it. For all I know it might be something she’s been struggling with for weeks, but then again, could have just been the fever talking._ She sighed internally. She’d already put the theory out there, supplying what little evidence she had in support of it probably wouldn’t make much difference in Kim’s eyes. Should she find out any of this, her daughter would be liable to hate her even more than she already did, regardless of the details. “The night Kim collapsed after her fight with Shego, I had to get up to try and cool her down and give her stronger pain killers. Amidst her delirium, I heard Kim say the words, _‘but I really do want us to be friends,’_ followed soon after by Shego’s name. I didn’t have time to think on it at the time, but after re-watching the fight between them at the communications centre, I couldn’t reconcile those events with how angry Kim was at Shego the next day; before the Jazz Bar incident.”

“Do you think she tried to befriend Shego and got rejected?” Monique asked.

“Hey, I watched those ladies fight for years. They trade insults, not friend requests,” Ron replied.

“Mom’s got a point,” Jim began.

“We watched that entire fight at the communications centre twice and they were both toying with one another for large portions of it,” Tim continued.

“Yeah, it was a lot more like a sparring match than an actual fight to stop Drakken taking over the world,” Jim said, picking up exactly where his brother had left off.

“And neither Kim nor Shego seemed angry when it ended and the place started falling apart,” Tim finished.

“Except come Saturday afternoon, Kim was definitely angry with her over something,” Ann added. “It just doesn’t add up.”

“Are you suggesting that Kim and Shego encountered one another at some point between that fight finishing and when she came over to see you the following afternoon?” Wade asked.

“Yes, Wade, that’s exactly what I’m suggesting,” she confirmed. “If I was to hazard a guess, I’d say that they met up by mutual agreement and that Kim thought it was going to lead to something more substantial…”

“Only for Shego to pull the rug out from under her!” Ron cut in. “Booyah! That’s a classic villain psych-out move right there.”

“Well, if they did hang out and things went south, it certainly would explain why Kim tore after her when she was out with me,” Monique said, before quickly adding. “However, that still doesn’t excuse the fact that she did it.”

“While such circumstantial evidence and conjecture can be compelling, we don’t have any proof that’s what happened,” Wade said, sounding like he was trying to put a lid on Ron’s Ron-ness.

“It also doesn’t explain why Kim mellowed out after sending Shego to jail,” Jim said.

“Or why she didn’t flip when she found out that she escaped,” Tim added.

“All three of you are right,” Ann agreed. “And short of having you retrospectively spy on her, Wade, something that I’m not prepared to do,” _at least not yet,_ “the only place we’re likely to get the answer is from Kim herself. Although I have a bad feeling that Shego would be more agreeable to telling me.”

“What else do you want us to do then, Mrs Dr Possible,” Wade asked, sounding just the slightest bit perplexed at the situation.

“I…” Ann began, but stopped, realising that she had no plan of how to go about trying to help her daughter, or even just reach out to her without being completely blanked. “I don’t know,” she finally said. “I’m not even sure if we should do anything.” She felt the corners of her eyes begin to prick again upon reminding herself of the reality of the situation between herself and Kim and at how the girl would likely view her having this discussion, should she find out. “I just want to know that she’s safe, not doing anything reckless and is at least having some contact with other people.” She was then unable to stop herself blurting out, “is that too much to ask!”

Ann dabbed the corners of her eyes again with a tissue and could see that everyone; especially her sons, looked a bit awkward.

“We can try and keep an eye on her for you, Mrs Dr Possible,” Wade eventually suggested. “And now that Kim’s anger seems to have subsided, we might be able to wear her down on the issue of talking to you, if we approach the subject in the right way.”

“Umm, aren’t we all in the same boat as mom when it comes to Kim?” Jim asked, although it was not really a question.

“She only talks to us when she needs something done to the Sloth and that’s hasn’t happened since before mom kept her here for two weeks,” Tim added.

“Yeah, I kinda only spoke to her once and am still waiting on her calling me back,” Ron agreed.

“You can count me out,” Monique said flatly. “I came here as a favour to you, Mrs Dr Possible, not because I intend to talk to Kim. As far as I’m concerned, unless she decides she wants to apologise to me, I’m done.”

Ann surveyed the assembled faces and knew there was little more she could ask of them. _Unfortunately, this is the bigger problem. Apart from James, everyone that is close to Kim is here and bar Wade, she’s alienated all of us._ Alas, she’d hit upon the crux of the matter and discovered it was a brick wall. She let out a long, deflated sigh; she’d done a lot of that over the issue of Kim recently. “I know I have no right to ask any of you to do anything more than you already have, as I understand you each have your own personal issues with Kim, but if you do happen to speak with her, can you all try and be supportive of her. If she’s willing to talk, listen and see if you can get a general feel for how she’s doing both mentally and physically… I just need to know that she’s safe.”

“I suppose I could whip up some upgrades for the Kimmunicator that I’ll need to talk her through,” Wade said speculatively.

“I guess the Sloth could use a tune-up,” Jim suggested.

“And if we finish the Smart Slime launcher, she’d have to bring it over for us to install,” Tim added.

A wide grin then spread over both boys’ faces.

“Of course, ironing out the kinks in that kind of tech is hungry work,” Jim said.”

“If you boys can coax her into bringing the Sloth over, I’ll give you double dessert for a month,” Ann said quickly.

“Hoo-sha!” Tim exclaimed and high-fived his brother.

Ron then let out an exaggerated sigh. “I know she said she wasn’t ready to talk about why we broke up, but I suppose I can try and get in touch with her and ask her if she wants to grab a bite to eat at Bueno Nacho sometime.”

Her gaze, having travelled between speakers, finally rested upon Monique.

“I’m sorry, Mrs Dr Possible, but I’m not willing to try and reach out to Kim again,” Monique said definitively.

Ann gazed at the girl, her expression forming into the infamous Possible puppy-dog-pout. While such dirty tactics were normally reserved for her husband and daughter; her sons typically being immune and requiring bribery, she was desperate.

Monique rolled her eyes long-sufferingly and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Urgh, ok, fine. **If** I’ve got nothing better to do **and** Wade assures me she’s in a better mood, I **might** give her a call. However, if she still isn’t willing to apologise, I’m out for good.” The girl then folded her arms and huffed. “And using that look was a low blow.”

Looking at the assembled group, Ann felt overcome with gratitude. “Thank you,” was all she managed to say before she had to busy herself with taking a drink of her iced tea, lest she break out into a proper flood of tears. When she managed to regain her composure, she said, “Kim’s lucky to have friends and,” she turned to look at her sons, “brothers like you five.”

“KP will come around and talk to you eventually, Mrs Dr P,” Ron said positively, as he munched down on a cookie. After he had swallowed, he then added, “you just gotta give it her time to see your side of the coin and to try and see hers.”

For the umpteenth time, everyone turned to stare at the blonde-haired boy.

“Oh, come on!” Ron exclaimed. “That was a perfectly good metaphor!”

Ann laughed, “I’m sure it was when Mr Barkin told you it.” The boy had explained to her that it had been his former teacher that had prompted him to consider making peace with his former best friend and it wasn’t much of a stretch for her to deduce the man as being the source of such ‘sagely wisdom’. “That aside, thank you all for coming and for agreeing to make the effort to talk to Kim for me. However, I must be getting ready to go to work. I’ve got surgery scheduled for one o’clock.”

Her guests rose as one to leave and so she stood up to escort them out. However, Ron stopped the group in its tracks. “Woah, woah, hold on one second!” he exclaimed. “How come they,” he pointed at her sons, “get extra dessert for agreeing to interact with Kim. Where’s our dessert?”

She chuckled and realised that in some small way, she’d genuinely missed having the boy around the Possible home over the past two years. Indeed, he’d spent so much time there prior to Kim initially moving out, that she’d often treated him like a third son. “How about I let you take the extra batch of cookies I baked away with you?”

“BOOYAH! Do you hear that, Rufus? We feast on Mrs Dr P cookies tonight!”

The naked-mole-rat poked his head out of Ron’s trouser pocket. “Mmm, yum-yum!”

Ann laughed and turned to her other two guests. “You are both welcome to some too… if you’re able to fend off Ron long enough that is.”

“Thank you, Mrs Dr Possible,” Wade and Monique said in unison.

She motioned to escort her guests out, via the kitchen, however, at the doorway turned to look at her sons. “Please try not to blow the house up while I’m at work,” she said in a longsuffering manner.

“We’ll try,” Jim and Tim said in unison, but with a grin that said they were making no promises.

Ann shook her head, took her guest to get their cookies and then saw them out the front door. Closing it behind them, she turned and headed up the stairs. While the conversation had, unfortunately, only further convinced her that her theory regarding Kim trying to befriend Shego was true; the opposite of what she’d wanted, it had at least given her some comfort to know that her daughter’s friends were not ready to give up on her just yet. _I just hope James has found her to be in an aggregable mood…_ While both Ron and Wade had brought her encouraging news about Kim’s anger having subsided, she did not want to speculate on the outcome of her husbands visit. _So long as you’re both physically and mentally well, Kim_ , _that’s all that matters._

With a sense of apprehension about what her husband might have to tell her when she came home that night, Ann began getting ready for work. However, she stopped dead in her tracks when she heard her cell phone vibrate atop the dresser. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw who the message was from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we come to an end to this update that somehow ended up three times longer than I'd planned. 
> 
> With regards to the first chapter, I had only initially planned on having the scene with Betty and Brooks, however, decided that this would also be a good time to introduce Quinn. And then when I actually sat down to write it, found myself writing an extra scene between Betty and her boss. My initial plan was then to do the whole this from Betty's pov, but as I mentioned in my opening author's note, I read Celioxa's comment and it got me thinking again about writing something from Captain Brooks' pov. I loved the idea so much that I just had to scrap what I'd written and change the pov to Brooks. This in turn then led to an unplanned encounter between her and Quinn, which I found to amusing to resist and then to the surprising twist where Brooks attempts to enlist her help. Hell, I'll admit that even I didn't see that one coming until I found myself writing it. I guess that's what I get for allowing my characters the freedom to do what they want, rather than follow my rough plans! I also briefly thought about doing the last scene from Quinn's pov, but thought it would be far more amusing to do it from Betty's.
> 
> Onto the second chapter and this was supposed to be a fairly short conversation between the group. I must admit that I have a tendency to shy away from writing group scenes, as I find them difficult to do. However, something just seemed to click from the off on this one and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ron's dialogue was a joy to write yet again. This scene also threw up a bit of a twist I did not see coming until late in the day, in that James has gone to see Kim. I'd only started toying with the idea the day before I sat down and wrote the part where Ann tells the group that's where he's gone. Personally, I really liked writing Ann here, as I think it serves to highlight the fact that she knows she is doing things that might drive Kim away and that it hurts her to have to do so, but she is doing it purely because she needs to know her daughter is safe, well and happy.
> 
> Ok, so, looking ahead to the next update and I honestly don't know how many chapters it will be, when it will be posted or even what will happen, as the events of these two chapters require me to have a think about both the next chapters and the wider plot in general. In that respect, please do not expect an update in two weeks’ time, as it is likely going to take me at least an extra week to readjust my plans and write the chapters as I have literally nothing of it written yet. The only saving grace being that Captain Brooks and James have not completely blown my plan up, unlike a certain fiery-haired vixen, who shall remain nameless, did back in season one. lol. 
> 
> Thank you all once again for your support, I hope you enjoyed these 'short' interludes and are looking forward to the next update. 
> 
> Warmest regards  
> The once again tired author; Niaxi
> 
> P.S. Please, please, please check out Celioxa's work and show her some love. I'll give you the links again (yeah, I'm a persistant sod, aren't I.) ;p.
> 
> https://twitter.com/celioxa


	60. S218(U8): ...and daddy loves you too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone, I hope you're all ready for another instalment of And You And I cos I've got a whopper of an instalment for you all. While it is only three chapters long, the word count exceeds 32K! So, grab a snack, get comfy and let's get started. 
> 
> First things first and I'm starting to sound like a broken record with this one, thank you all for sticking with this story and for all the kudos and comments you guys leave me on each update. I really appreciate all the support. 
> 
> Ok, before we get into this update, I need to make a quick point in regards to the last update and the character of Quinn. From reading some of your comments, it is clear that some of you think that she is supposed to be Harley Quinn and after I re-read the two scenes with her and checked out the outfits the character wears in the new Birds of Prey film (I've not seen it), I can see why. While I am a massive Harley fan (especially modern Harley after her split from Joker), that was not never my intention. I actually came up with the name Quinn Phy-Knight as a play on infinite and for a parody of Kim that I was playing on a message board RPG back in march (to scratch the itch I felt to write actual Kim). Unfortunately, no one wanted to play with my little firework of sass and so just ignored my posts. Anyway, when I realised I needed an OC freelancer, it just felt right to use Quinn. Alas, I decided to dress her in an outfit I pinched from another character of mine called Bonnie and her hair colour from another called Anna (both of them from my Threads of Life series). Hence, combining the name, outfit, her crazy personality and her calling Betty 'Betts' (an unintentional play on Bats) and I can see why some of you think she is supposed to be Harley, rather than an OC. Ultimately, if some of you still want to think of her as being Harley for now, then that is entirely up to you. However, please don't be surprised if she does some un-Harley like things when she next shows up, as she is definitely an OC. 
> 
> Right, moving on and this chapter title: ...and daddy loves you too, is taken from the exact same song as the previous chapter title: Mother loves her baby..., and is, in fact, the second half of the same line. Lol, I do like it when I find a song title or lyric that I can split over two back to back chapters. And I don't think I need to tell anyone that it is referring to the fact that this chapter is going to be about Kim and her dad. So, without further delay, enjoy.
> 
> P.S. I forgot to mention this last time, but this story has now surpassed the 300K word mark and is only 5K away from the 350K mark!

It had not been a fun morning for Kim Possible. After Shego had left yesterday afternoon, she had spent the rest of the day on the sofa; watching TV and eating junk and take-out food, all the while under the influence of codeine. She’d finally answered one of Wade’s calls, acted shocked at the news that Shego had escaped and said she’d only go after her when she next popped up. Or at least she thought that’s what she’d said; the memory of last night being a little bit hazy. Regardless, she’d planned on going out on a mission that morning and been less than enthralled when she’d woken up at her normal time of six am to find her back still more than a little sore. Unfortunately, things had only gone downhill from there. After dressing in her training gear, she’d reached for the pill bottle to discover she only had a single tablet left. Cursing her bad luck, she’d taken it and headed out for a light jog rather than her normal run. However, after only fifteen minutes, she’d felt the discomfort and against her normally stubborn nature, heeded the warning signs and walked home; the memory of what had happened to her the last time she’d been injured still fresh in her mind. While her mom was not on hand to incarcerate her within the Possible residence this time, she had no wish to aggravate the injury and side-line herself for another extended period. Back home she’d taken a long soak in the tub to try and ease some of the stiffness and put her pyjamas back on after she’d gotten dried.

Gingerly, Kim sat down on the sofa and picked up the TV remote. _I never realised how quiet it gets when I’m here by myself. Heh, if I’ve ever been home long enough to notice._ Nevertheless, without the background noise caused by Ru-Ru; be that his munching on something, the TV blaring, his unintelligible cursing when something irked him or his ridiculously loud snoring, her apartment was eerily quiet; sterile even. Like how it felt when you walked into a house devoid of furnishings. _I never thought I’d say this, given how infuriating the little shit could be, but I think I might miss him a little. Or at least miss having someone/something around. Unfortunately, getting a normal pet is out of the question, given how often I’m away. And I can’t just walk into a pet store and buy one that is smart enough to look after itself when I’m not here._ She sighed, _I guess I’m stuck by myself. Heh, if mom found out I’d thought about getting a pet, I’d probably get home to find she’d foisted the Tweebs onto me… indefinitely._ She shuddered at the idea of having her brothers stay with her; even just for a single night. _Never going to happen!_

A somewhat sour expression began to form on Kim’s face and she slouched ever further down on the sofa as episodes of Pals began to blur into one another; she wasn’t paying much attention. A lock of hair drooped down in front of her face and she irritably tried to blow it away. _Urgh! This completely sucks!_ Her eyes drifted to the clock on the wall, _and it’s only the back-of-ten!_ She felt the urge to simply screw her back and go out on a mission anyway. _I’ve got an extremely high threshold of pain and have suffered through worse than this…_ her gaze returned to the TV as another episode started. She’d seen it before and it royally sucked, _Shego’s right, this show is way too mopey._ Picking up the remote, she changed the channel and found herself face to face with an episode of Captain Constellation… fu _ck this! I’m going out on a mission._ Kim got to her feet too quickly and almost doubled over as her lower back spasmed and pain shot through it. “Fuck!” she cursed and staggered forwards a few steps before she managed to straighten up. Taking slow, deliberate breaths, she stood still for a moment or two as she allowed the pain to ebb. _Ok… not going to lie, that hurt like hell. I guess it would be downright idiotic of me to even attempt to go out on even a light mission. However, I’m bored stiff and it’s still only just after ten! What am I supposed to do for the rest of the day?_ She didn’t even want to think about the possibility that she’d still be too sore to go back to work tomorrow.

Kim was about to sit back down on the sofa when the answer to her question arrived via a polite knock on her front door. Taking care not to twist her lower back, she crossed the main living area to answer it. _Heh, at least it’s not possible for it to be as shocking as when Ron visited me last week, even if it’s Shego!_ She let out a light laugh at that thought, but it quickly died when a memory of the Cellblock C Sirens nightmare floated through her mind. She’d had it again last night and it had woken her at three am; the laughter of the jeering inmates ringing in her ears and the image of a triumphant Captain Books, who held her by a fistful of her own hair and towered over her, burned into her retinas. Her sleep had been restless for the remainder of the night. In hindsight, she should probably count herself fortunate that Kimmie had not appeared inside her head that morning to chastise her further for breaking Shego out. _I’ll deal with all that later,_ she decided as she unlocked her door and opened it.

“Dad!” Kim exclaimed, her tone a mix of confusion, happiness and guilt. Her father having been an unfortunate victim of hurricane Kimberly, as it had stormed around the Possible residence for two weeks solid.

“Morning, Kimmie-Cub,” her dad replied in a cheerful; upbeat manner and showing no signs of residual storm damage. “Mind if I come in?”

Kim looked at him suspiciously, _why isn’t he at work?_ She then promptly poked her head out into the hallway and glanced all around as she asked in a tone that matched her expression, “is Mom with you?”

“No, your mother has brain surgery scheduled in less than three hours … mind you not that she ever has any other kind of surgery planned… except for that time she somehow wound up doing tree surgery… not a fun day for her.”

She ignored her father as he rambled on and cast her gaze around once more; lingering on the elevator and the stairwell, before saying, “come on in, Dad.”

Her father crossed the threshold and she promptly closed the door behind him; locking it just to be on the safe side. “Please, make yourself at home,” she said and indicated for him to sit down. The man took up residence in the armchair, while she returned to her perch on the sofa.

“So, how’s my favourite daughter doing? I heard you were quite busy the other week.”

“I’m fine, Dad, great even,” Kim replied with a little too much zeal and a forced smile, _aside from the fact I’ve hurt my back, recently discovered I’m a lesbian, have had a nightmare the past two nights about being sent to prison, oh and there’s the small matter of me having just broken my nemesis out of said prison._

Her father looked her up and down. “Well, you do seem a lot calmer… you are calmer, right? This isn’t just some façade you’ve put on to lure me in here so you can scramble my brain and…

“Dad!” she exclaimed, cutting him off mid-hairbrained-notion. “Have you been watching Supervillain Spotlight on HeroTV again? The last time you did that you started seeing supervillains at Smarty Mart,” _granted there have actually been supervillains in Smarty Mart._

Her father looked slightly shifty as he replied, “of course not, your mother banned me from watching that show, remember? And you know I never want to get on the wrong side of your mother.”

She gave him a piercing sideways look and folded her arms. “Really? So, you haven’t stayed up after the Tweebs have gone to bed and mom’s still at work to watch it?”

The man’s eyebrows began to twitch and she could see a sweat drop form on his forehead under the intensity of her stare. “Ok, ok, I’ve been watching it when your mother’s surgeries have been running late into the night. But can you blame me? They recently did entire episodes on Professor Dementor, Dr Drakken and Shego…” he stopped abruptly after saying the supervillainess’ name. “…um…”

Kim laughed, “it’s ok, Dad, I’ve worked through my anger issues in regards to Shego. In fact, I’ve worked through most of my anger issues.” To emphasise her point, she gave him another smile; this one less forced.

A look of relief, like he had just been spared being thrown to the lions, spread across her father’s face. However, he then caught her off guard by asking, “so, does that mean you’ve forgiven your mother?”

In an instant, her smile transformed into a scowl. _Well, if that isn’t opportunistic, I don’t know what is._ “No, I’m still angry at mom for what she did.” She saw the hopeful expression on her father’s face fall, however, still continued, “she crossed a line, Dad, and…” she paused when her brain reminded her that she had done the exact same thing, albeit only for one night, with Shego. _Damn, even though it’s hypocritical of me, I just can’t bring myself to forgive her. Is it as much to do with the fact she’s been going behind my back and talking to Wade, Monique and even Ron?_ She didn’t know the answer to that question. In fact, with everything else that she’d had going on recently, she’d not spent much time thinking on the subject, bar when she’d been desperate to talk to someone and considered ignoring her feelings and giving the woman a call. “…I can’t forgive her so easily… I just can’t,” she said with a hint of regret.

Her father looked dismayed and she got the impression that part of the reason he’d come over had been to convince her to get over the anger she felt towards her mother. _Why is it everyone seems to have an ulterior motive when they talk to me? And why do I always smell mom’s hand in it somewhere?_ She felt a flash of anger at that thought and towards her father for what he had just attempted. However, she forced herself to swallow it. _Dad suffered the wrath of hurricane Kimberly when he didn’t deserve it. So, it would be most unfair for me to blow up at him over this. Call it time served or whatever._

“Your mother loves and misses you, Kimmie,” her father then said sincerely. “She just wants to know that you’re ok.”

“Well, you can tell her I’m fine,” Kim replied, forcing herself to keep her tone level.

Unfortunately, her father did not take the hint and instead pressed on, “I think she’d much rather hear it from you personally.”

Her scowl darkened as she said in a biting tone, “tough. I’m not phoning her. She can get the latest news about me second hand, like she’s been doing for the past couple of months.” Kim felt her anger slowly rise to the surface again and it was a struggle for her to keep a lid on things.

Her father looked slightly wary now, like he had just poked a sleeping dragon. However, his courage and resolve remained strong enough for him to say, “your mother cares about you deeply, Kim. And she’ll always be there for you if you change your mind.”

Electing to take her father’s last comment on the chin and consider the subject about her mother closed, Kim decided to move the conversation on with a relevant question, “why aren’t you at work, Dad?”

The man let out a forced laugh as he said, “funny story that. Some of the boys at the lab have been working on a new type of rocket fuel, however, it’s extremely volatile at the moment. Unfortunately, yesterday, someone accidentally ignited it, blowing part of the roof off the building. So, the whole place is closed for a day or two while they clean up and assess the damage.”

For the second time, Kim looked pointedly at him. “Did you lean on another leaver again?” she asked. _I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s got prior when it comes to doing that, having launched a rocket a week early and de-pantsed Ron._

Her father suddenly became all shifty again and uttered quickly, “they always put those things in the most illogical places.”

“You leaned on a lever and blew the roof off the lab,” Kim said matter-of-factly. “the classic Possible phenomenon strikes again.” _Well, that explains why he’s not at work. But why come over to see me? Surely it wasn’t just to plead mom’s case._ She sighed internally, _urgh, listen to me. I sound completely paranoid! Do I honestly believe that no one wants to simply spend time with me without either wanting something or to try and meddle with my life?_ The answer to that question was an emphatic yes. Not since before she had accidentally run into Shego in Spritzers had anyone spent time with her without there being some form of ulterior motive. And she could not bring herself to simply give her father the benefit of the doubt. “So, why did you decided to come over and see me? And how did you even know I would be in?” While she asked the second question, she already knew the answer. Either he hadn’t known she would be home or he had been in touch with Wade.

“It’s been a while since I spent any quality time with my daughter,” her father replied, his voice once more upbeat. “I thought we could maybe have a round of mini-golf, then go for lunch, like we used to. What do you say?”

“I don’t know, Dad…” Kim started to say slowly, as she felt a slight twinge in her lower back; a reminder that she’d not managed to kill the pain. However, the moment she saw his face begin to fall, she quickly said, “…you know what, why not. It’ll be fun,” and smiled at him. _I can do this. It’s not like he’s asking me to scale a cliff-face or try and outrun an oncoming train. It’s only some walking and lightly swinging a putter. Besides, I’m bored stiff sitting here by myself. Some quality time with dad might be fun._ “I’ll go and get changed and then we can go. Feel free to make yourself a coffee.”

The moment the words of agreement left her mouth, her father’s expression immediately brightened and his eyes sparkled, like she’d just given him a pot of gold. “It’ll be just like old times; promise,” he said.

“Just like old times,” Kim said with a nod and headed off towards her bedroom. _Yeah, just like old times; you and me, but no mom…_ When growing up, she had always done so much more with her dad than her mom. The Little Rockets Space Camps, the Middleton science museum, trips to the ice cream parlour and, of course, playing mini-golf, which he’d used to teach her about geometry and Newtons laws of motion. _Mom was always working such erratic shifts that she was rarely with us, let alone us spending time just me and her. I guess that’s why on that mother’s day we were both desperate for something to come up so that we didn’t have to spend the day together; we had absolutely no idea what to do._

Kim cast the thought from her mind as she stripped off her pyjamas and found a pair of comfortable, baggy black jeans, a pink t-shirt and a thin pale blue zip-up hoodie in the wardrobe. She dressed quickly, paying her lower back no heed when it started to twinge. After lacing up her sneakers, she went to the bathroom and rooted around in the cabinet for packets of Tylenol and Advil. She swallowed two of each with some water, then slipped the two blister strips into the leg pocket of her jeans; just in case. Exiting her bedroom, she elected to bypass her workroom and leave her Kimmunicator on the desk. Even if there was some sort of global crisis, she was in no fit state to deal with it. _If anything happens, GJ will just have to deal with it. Besides, I’m not at the world’s beck and call._

“Ready to go?” she asked when she returned to the main living area.

Her father smiled at her and stood up from the sofa. “Ready to get your little tush kicked by your old man?”

She laughed, “in your dreams, Dad. By the time we reach the windmill, you’ll be hitting the six-stroke limit on every hole.”

“Care to make a wager on that, Kimmie?” her father asked with a daring grin.

“You’re on, Dad,” she replied quickly, unable to resist the bait of a challenge. “What do you have in mind?”

“Matchplay rules; whoever wins the most holes wins,” her father replied.

“In other words, it won’t matter when you hit six at the Eifel Tower, Sphinx and Colosseum,” Kim chuckled. “Ok, bring it on. What’re the stakes?”

“If you win, you get to pick where we have lunch and I pay for it.”

“And if you win?”

The man’s face tightened slightly as he said, “if I win, you call your mother and talk to her for at least five minutes.”

Kim’s scowl from earlier returned with a vengeance, however, she’d already agreed to the bet and so her pride would not let her back down. “Fine,” she growled, realising her father may have just played her. “But when I win, you drop the mom subject, period.”

Her father nodded lightly in agreement and seemed somewhat surprised that she’d not argued the point. “Shall we,” he said and indicated towards the front door.

“Fine. You’re going down, Dad,” she replied, her mood having darkened somewhat. And she couldn’t help but feel her paranoia had just been vindicated. _Was this his plan all along? Did he know I would refuse to call mom and so deliberately got me to agree to a wager, knowing full well I wouldn’t back out once he revealed the stakes?_ She tried to ignore the thought as she wandered towards the front door and opened it. Even if he had purposefully tricked her, it didn’t matter. She was going to spend some quality time with her dad and it would be fun. Kim and her father left the apartment and headed for the elevator.

##

It was by the seventh hole; the clown that Ron had taken umbrage with for supposedly force-feeding him a chicken while he had been a mutated maniac, that Kim realised that she would not have things all her own way. As she would have expected, her father had kept pace with her across the first six holes, resulting in the match being all-square come the start of the seventh. Much to her surprise and horror, she’d then watched her father sink a hole-in-one at the clown and knew it had been no fluke. When she’d quizzed him on his newfound proficiency, it transpired that he’d finally caved to the badgering of his work colleagues and taken up actual golf; meaning his putting skills were now greatly improved. A pointed look had also revealed that he’d cooked up a computer simulation of himself and a set of assisted clubs to catch up on the years of practice his colleagues had over him. _At least his latest research grant has been put to good use,_ she’d thought in annoyance as she failed miserably at replicating his feat and so lost the hole. From that point on, she’d been forced to use her geometry and physics lessons in order to keep up; the joys of playing a physicist.

“See, I told you this would be like old times,” her father said with a chuckle, as he sent his ball into the pirate ship on hole fourteen. “Just you and me and the laws of physics and mathematics.”

Kim placed her pink ball down in annoyance. “You tricked me into this,” she growled, as she lined up her shot. “And all because mom wants me to pretend like nothing happened between us.” Just managing to control her swing, she sent her ball along the exact same trajectory as her father’s and listened to it ping around inside the ship.

“Kimmie,” her father said warmly as he put an arm around her shoulder. “I came over because I found myself with the day off and wanted to spend some quality time with you.” She was about to shrug him off when, much to her surprise, he then added, “if it’ll make you happier, we can forget about the bet and just enjoy the rest of the game.” Kim looked up at the man quizzically and watched him let out a sigh. “I was perhaps being a little opportunistic when I suggested that wager. I just hate seeing you and your mother at loggerheads like this.” She could see clearly on his face the pain the issue was causing him.

Her father kept his arm around her shoulder as she led them around the other side of the ship to discover the fate of their balls. “It’s not that I purposefully don’t want to talk to mom, it’s just every time I think about her, I start feeling angry again and I don’t like it,” she said, the edge to her tone conveying that the subject had indeed caused a bubble of anger to swell inside her. Seeing that her ball was furthest from the hole, she disentangled herself from her father and strode towards it “Ok, so I made a mistake by not getting my injuries seen to sooner and again when I chased after Shego,” she continued, gripping her putter to the point her knuckles turned white. “But Mom crossed a line when she put that damn Alcatraz2000 bracelet on me. Not only had she clearly planned it in advance, but she ignored any trust there was between us by not even asking me to stay until I recovered, rather she simply assumed I’d say no and so forced me to stay!” The anger bubble burst and she hit her ball way too hard, sending it screaming past the hole and over the edge of the putting surface into the water.

Kim drew in a breath between gritted teeth, _bastard_ and watched her dad pluck her ball out of the water. The man walked towards her and handed it to her. “I’m afraid that counts as a six, Kimmie-Cub,” he said and then headed towards his blue ball.

She humphed on receiving her ball. While her father had said they could forget about the bet, that still didn’t change the fact she hated losing. And with her father having four strokes to sink his ball; she doubted he’d need more than two, she was staring down the barrel of going two holes down with only four to play. Lose the next hole the best she’d be able to do was draw.

“While I’m not going to defend what your mother did,” her father began as he crouched down to observe the line of his shot, “try and see it from her perspective.”

A frown formed on Kim’s face as she watched him rise to stand over his ball, however, she held back a retort… for now.

“Not only did you break the promise you made her; to get checked out by a doctor whenever you suffered any sort of nasty injury, but you then missed dinner without so much as a word and left both of us very worried for an entire week.” Her father stopped momentarily and left her to digest his words; as he took a few practice swings.

While she felt infuriated at him for looking at the bigger picture, she could not refute any of his points or those that she knew were about to come.

“Then when you eventually did show up, you had suffered several serious injuries, but still didn’t consider it a problem. And I don’t even want to go into what happened when you went out the following night.” The second he finished, her father struck his ball with enough force that it shot past the hole and off the edge of the putting surface and into the water. “Well, would you look at that,” the man laughed, “guess that’s sixes for both of us.” He then smiled at her as he wandered over to fetch his own ball from the drink this time.

Purely from his reaction, Kim could tell that he’d done it on purpose. _Is he taking pity on me, or does he think it was his fault that I got angry and sunk my own ball? Or was that an attempt to lighten the mood before he gets serious?_ She got her answer moments later when he drew up beside her and looked her straight in the eyes; blacks meeting olive-greens.

“Tell me honestly, had your mother not stopped you, that you wouldn’t have gone chasing after Shego a day or so after she beat you in that parking lot; in other words, before you were fully healed, and I’ll drop the subject and never bring it up again. You can continue to feel angry towards your mother and I won’t interfere,” her father said in a calm tone that was both caring and serious.

Kim quickly opened her mouth to tell him just that; to lie to him, to put the subject to bed once and for all, “I…” except the words quickly died on her tongue. She sucked in a mouthful of air and found that she could not gaze into those kind eyes and tell a blatant lie to her father. Her eyes found her trainers and she let out a low sigh. “I messed up, Dad,” she said sombrely. “Shego made me so angry that the only thing I could think about was finding her and beating the crap out of her. And you’re right… if mom hadn’t of stopped me, I probably would have gone home the next morning, used my battle suit to mitigate the injury to my ribs and gone in search of her.” Even though she had already known it to be true, it was still a difficult admission for her to make. “However, that still doesn’t make what mom did right.”

“I’m not saying it does, Kimmie; two wrongs don’t make a right,” her father replied and lifted her chin with his finger until she was once more gazing into his eyes. “But right or wrong, your mother did stop you from seriously injuring yourself. And she did it because she loves you and cares deeply for you, even though she knew it might mean you never spoke to her again.”

Whether it had been because her father had inadvertently got caught in the storm that had been hurricane Kimberly, or because talking about the incident out loud had caused her to see her mother’s actions from a different perspective, Kim felt a dollop of guilt land atop her. _Ok, so I really did mess up with my injuries and then by chasing after Shego. And like it or not, Dad ‘s right; mom prevented me from inflicting greater damage on myself or worse… only the issue isn’t as simple as that._ “What do you want me to do dad?” she asked the question, paused for a brief moment and had been about to reiterate her earlier comment about ‘pretending nothing had happened’, followed by an explanation of the multiple encroachments her mother had made into her life via her friends, when her father calmly cut in.

“I want you to do what I always taught you to; look at every situation objectively and then chose what you think is the right course of action, even if it’s not the easiest or most popular one.” Her father gave her a warm smile and then said sincerely, “while you might make some mistakes along the way, I’ve always trusted you to make the right decision in the end.” His tone then quickly became upbeat, “now, we’d better get a move on. The Easter Island Mo’ai awaits and you’re still one hole down, young Lady.”

It felt somewhat refreshing to hear someone tell her that it was up to her how she handled something. Yes, her dad had made it clear that he would like her to make peace with her mom and even made her making a phone call to the woman his prize should he win their game of mini-golf, however, he’d quickly nullified the bet on discovering her displeasure at it and even after getting her to admit her mom had done the wrong thing for the right reasons, still chose not to force the issue. _Dad was always good that way. Always being the guiding hand rather than the do as I say sort of parent… unless it involved boys._ She laughed internally at that thought and followed her father to the fifteenth hole; the Easter Island Mo’ai.

Kim won the fifteenth hole, lost the sixteen and won the seventeenth. Finally, after a short walk uphill, something that her lower back did not appreciate, they arrived at the eighteenth hole. Her father, whose turn it was on the even-numbered holes, went first. Having obviously learned from years’ worth of foul-ups, she watched him play it safe; his ball travel through the Colosseum and to the far side of the putting surface.

“Not too shabby, made it to the green in one,” he said with a grin that she knew was daring her to take the risky route to the hole. “There’ll be no six for your old man here today.”

“I guess zillion-to-one chances have to happen sooner or later,” she said airily as she sat her ball down. “However, it’s not going to be enough!” In the blink of an eye, she had her mission face on and her gaze zeroed in on the route that led directly to the hole.

“Careful you don’t overcook it, Kimmie,” her father said playfully, but also as a way to put her off.

Kim turned and glowered at the man.

“Youth and skill are no match for old age and treachery,” he chuckled.

“Sorry, Dad, hate to break it to you,” she said as her gaze returned to her ball, “but if that were the case,” she drew her putter back, “Dr Drakken would be supreme overlord of the world right,” she twisted her upper body and struck the pink ball hard as she exclaimed, “n…AHHH!” Kim dropped her putter as her hands immediately grabbed at her lower back, which had gone into a spasm.

“Kim, are you ok!” she heard her father exclaim in alarm and in a flash, he had reached her side.

“Yeah… I’m…” she said through gritted teeth, “…ahhh!” her lower back spasmed again, however, this one felt more akin to an aftershock; a mere echo of the first. She took in a breath and forced herself to straighten. “AHH! Son of a bitch!” she cursed and had to wipe away a tear from her eye.

Her father stood with a worried expression on his face. “You hurt your back again, didn’t you,” it wasn’t a question.

“Yeah,” Kim grunted and sucked in a few slow mouthfuls of air. “I landed awkwardly on it two days ago.”

Her dad’s expression turned somewhat grim and she knew what he was thinking. _He wants me to call mom and get her to take a look at it._ However, much to her surprise, he simply said kindly and with a trace of what sounded like guilt, “why didn’t you tell me, Kimmie? You should be at home resting, not playing a silly game of mini-golf with your old man.”

“I’m fine, Dad, honest,” she said and gave him a somewhat forced smile. “I hurt it two days ago, took yesterday off and when I went out for a light jog this morning and realised it still hurt a little, I did the sensible thing; walked straight home and then didn’t go out on a mission today too. When you suggested mini-golf, I though some light exercise would do it some good. That and I thought it would be fun to spend the day with you too.” She paused to consider for a moment, before adding, “I’ve missed this.” _Maybe even I need to slow down every once in a while. Even though he occasionally embarrassed me as I got older, I used to love spending time with dad._

A wide smile formed on her father’s face and she knew her words had just made him exceptionally happy. Stooping down, he picked up her putter and held it out to her. “Then let’s finish up here and go for lunch,” he said, before quickly adding, “so long as your back isn’t too sore.”

“It’ll be fine, Dad. I think I just put a little too much into that last shot.”

Gingerly, her back still twinging slightly, Kim walked beside her father as they made their way across the short distance to the green. It transpired that they would not need to find out if she could still putt, as her pink ball had worked its way through the Colosseum and rolled straight into the hole.

“Looks like you won, Kimmie-Cub,” her father said jovially, a clear indication that she did not get her desire to always win from him. “I guess zillion-to-one chances do have to happen sooner or later.”

They both laughed as her father bent down, picked her ball up out of the hole and tossed it to her. Kim snatched it out the air and could not help but feel triumphant, _I won!_ “You know the family motto, Dad,”

“Anything’s possible for a Possible,” they said in unison. Which turned out to be true for both of them, as her father proceeded to avoid his typical six by finishing up in two putts.

“Ok, Kimmie, you won, so where’s it going to be for lunch?” her dad asked as they leisurely walked back to the putter hut.

“I thought you agreed to void the bet?” Kim replied.

“Then consider it my treat for a game well played. So, what’s it going to be? Mama Joy’s, Cow and Chow?

She pondered for a moment, then gave him a wide smile. “Bueno Nacho.”

##

Kim couldn’t rightly recall the last time she’d stepped foot inside the Middleton branch of Bueno Nacho, or as aficionados like Ron preferred to call it, Bueno Nacho #582. Indeed, it had primarily been because of her former best friend that she had largely avoided the place over the past two years. Yes, she hardly ever stayed long in Middleton these days; recent history aside, but after they had split up, she’d subconsciously known that Ron too, owing to his abysmal first-semester college results, would sooner or later wind up back in their hometown and so she’d deliberately avoided his favourite hang-out in order to avoid him. However, now that they’d had a conversation that had not involved her walking out, slamming the phone down in anger or slapping him, she felt no need to avoid the restaurant on the basis he might be there. She could see him and be perfectly civil, possibly even friendly, given her current good mood.

Kim walked through the doors to find the restaurant exactly as she remembered it; the exact same as all the other standard size Bueno Nacho’s and the original it had replaced after the Lorwardian’s destroyed it. _I remember Ron ranting at me when I dared to suggest that they all look the same,_ she laughed internally. _He went on and on for over an hour as he listed all the minute differences between all the branches he’d visited. Heh, I recall Mr Barkin was not impressed when we did presentations on our life goals and Ron declared the top of his list was to eat in every single Bueno Nacho worldwide._

“Salad and an iced tea for you, Kimmie?” she heard her father ask from beside her; snapping her back to the here and now.

“Make mine a chimirito and a large soda,” Kim replied, drawing a quizzical look from the man.

“I thought you were eating healthy to keep in peak condition?”

She laughed, then her expression morphed into a cute pout as she said, “I’m injured and need junk food to make me feel better.” While she was injured, her back had settled down by the time they had got back to the car after the round of mini-golf.

Her father sighed as he chuckled, “whatever you want, Kimmie-Cub,” and pulled her into a hug. “Go grab a booth and I’ll bring it over.”

Reaching up, she pecked her father on the cheek, then wandered over to sit in a booth. She hadn’t needed to act all cutesie to get what she wanted, her father would have bought her it anyway, however, it was just one of those things she did when with him. Kim cast her gaze around the room; taking in the other patrons, something she’d become accustomed to doing when going out after she’d turned pro-hero, as though in this post Lorwardian invasion world she expected trouble around every corner. _Heh, or maybe I’m just that addicted to the adrenaline rush that I’m desperate to burst into action whenever I step out my front door._ It was then that she realised something that she had somehow missed throughout the entire game of mini-golf; the feeling that everyone who laid eyes on her was judging her because of her sexuality lacked the same intensity that it had held a few days ago. While she still felt it when she saw someone look at her, like the woman with the buggy whose eyes had passed over her on her way out of the door, it no longer made her wish she could dissolve into a puddle on the floor and slink back to her apartment and hide. And it seemed that if she kept her mind occupied, like concentrating on her father and mini-golf, she could block it out entirely, hence why she’d failed to notice until now. Apparently, simply talking to Shego; telling another human being that she was gay, had made her more comfortable in her new self.

Speaking of her father, Kim’s gaze found his back as he stood at the counter; giving their order to Ned. _Why did I not feel self-conscious when I first saw dad on my doorstep? Was it because I got so hung up on the whole mom issue? Or because deep down I believe he won’t judge me?_ That second thought was an interesting notion. From the moment she had discovered that she was gay, she had been terrified of sitting down and telling her parents. Yet she had felt perfectly fine around her father all morning. _Maybe telling dad wouldn’t be so bad. He’s always been understanding and supportive of my life choices. Well, except for the whole skipping college and becoming a pro-hero thing._ She’d got both barrels from both parents for that one when she’d told them. _Only this isn’t a life choice; I didn’t choose to be a lesbian, it’s just who I am… who I’ve always been._

At that moment, her father set a tray down atop the table and slid into the booth opposite her. “Here you are, Kimmie-Cub, one chimirito and a large soda. I also got us a side of Nachos to share.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Kim replied and lifted her lunch off of the tray.

Her father did the same and then said, “I’m actually slightly surprised you wanted to come here.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, for one thing, I thought your tastes had matured over the past eighteen months,” the man replied with a knowing smile. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you’ve upgraded your wardrobe from Club Banana to Country Club Banana or that Bang and Olufsen CD player and telephone.”

She laughed, “when it comes to food, my tastebuds still have a bit of catching up to do. If I can’t eat it cold, microwave it, or if it doesn’t have idiot-proof instructions, I don’t buy it.”

“Still a bit of a klutz in the kitchen?” her father chuckled and took a bite out of his burrito.

“You might say that,” Kim conceded. “When I moved in with Ron, I was usually home late and so left him to the cooking. That and he can actually cook. And since I got my own place, I’ve spent so much time away that I’ve not bothered to learn,” _and I’m still convinced that mixer back in home economics was out to get me._ At the memory of the offending kitchen appliance, she took an angry bite out of her chimirito. After swallowing, she then said, “however, Ron did manage to teach me how to make pancakes. What’s the other reason you thought I wouldn’t want to come here?” however, she could already guess the answer.

“Ronald, of course. I assumed after he moved back to Middleton, he would have resumed his near-permanent residence here.”

“I figured that much too, hence why I can’t recall the last time I was here,” Kim replied and found it somewhat refreshing that mere mention of her former best friend did not arouse the anger she had carried in regards to him for so long. “However, Ron and I talked last week and managed to move on from the wanting to kill one another place we’ve both been in for the past eighteen months.” She then looked at him pointedly as a thought came to her and said bitterly, “I would have thought mom would have told you all this, since she’s been seeking out all my friends to get the latest news about me.”

“Actually, it was Ron who came to see us,” her dad replied, sounding as though he was trying to both placate her and defend his wife.

Kim tilted her head in puzzlement. “Ron came to see you and mom, why?”

“Something about Mr Barkin and diablo sauce convincing him to go and see you… I think there were other things in that melting pot too, but you of all people know how hard it is to stay focused on one of his long-winded explanations.”

“All too well,” she chuckled. _So, it was Ron who approached mom, not the other way around. I guess I’ll have to let her off the hook when it comes to him._ “What did you guys say to him?”

“Well, I reminded him that there was still a rocket waiting to be fired into a black hole that he could easily be put aboard…”

Kim almost choked on a mouthful of her soda as she burst out laughing.

Her father waited until she had managed to take a proper breath before continuing, “…and your mother told him that she thought it was a good idea, as you could use a friend…” he let out a sigh before finishing, “…and your brothers told him that he’d likely find himself in hospital with all two-hundred-and-six bones broken.”

“Oh come on! None of the villains I busted two weeks ago ended up in hospital with that amount of injuries!” Kim exclaimed indignantly. “What do those Tweebs think I am, the Kiminator?”

Her father let out an amused chuckle. “Knowing your brothers, if they hadn’t of had a taste of your wrath first hand, they would probably have been lapping up each and every one of HeroTV’s features on your missions from two weeks ago.”

She folded her arms and humphed in response to her dad’s comment. She never had liked the fact that after she had turned pro (and the demand for coverage of hero work had boomed), HeroTV bought any and all footage they could get their hands on that showed parts of her missions, paid top dollar for eye witness accounts and then aired the lot with commentary and analysis in prime-time slots. Although, she couldn’t help but feel slightly smug that she had continuously topped their hero power rankings since their very inception.

They sat and ate in silence for a little while, before her dad finally asked, “so, what have you been up to lately? You’ve been out of the headlines since you sent old Drew Lipsky and Shego to jail.”

She’d been prepared for this question to crop up at some point during the day and so had an altered version of the truth prepared to tell him. “I had a lot of issues to work through and so decided to take some time off to deal with them. All I’ve done since I sent Shego and Drakken to jail is a simple cargo escort job for one of Wade’s colleagues; only because he asked me for the favour and a short rescue mission, which was no big.” She elected not to say that it had taken her four days to find said cargo after it had been stolen and, for obvious reasons, that the ‘rescue mission’ had been to break Shego out of prison.

She received a warm smile, the kind you get from a parent who is both proud and relieved that you have finally chosen a sensible course of action. In fact, her father’s expression had pretty much said as much throughout the course of the day, ever since she had told him she had dealt with her anger issues. And the more she had displayed her calm, happy demeanour and indicated that she’d been thinking things through like a responsible adult, rather than a reckless teenager, the more apparent it became that he genuinely believed that she had turned a corner and was now ok.

“That’s reassuring to hear, Kimmie,” her father then said. “Sometimes we all need a little time to take stock of things so we can properly deal with our issues.” He paused for a moment and then began, “so, does that mean…”

Already knowing the opportunistic question, Kim swiftly cut him off in a light-hearted but firm manner, “no, Dad. I’ve not changed my mind about college and I’m not going to. I love what I do **and** make more than enough money to keep a roof over my head,” _and my closet full of Country Club Banana’s latest fashions._

Her father quickly recovered from the putdown, “so long as you’re happy, Kimmie-Cub, that’s all that matters.”

On hearing him say this, Kim found the debate from earlier resurface in her mind. _Does that also apply to the fact that I like girls?_ She busied herself with a handful of nachos in a tactical move that would keep her tongue from blurting out something she didn’t intend to say, while her brain fought with itself. _Should I tell him? Dad’s always been supportive of me in the past. However, he did say to me, quite firmly, that there would be no kissing girls for me, ever. But was that simply him applying his rule about me kissing boys to girls too, or is he against homosexuality? I mean in that very same conversation, he also said that Middleton is a conservative community and that I’d find Mr Barkin’s viewpoint prevalent throughout…_ She ran out of nachos without realising it and was left stuffing only air into her mouth.

“If you want more nachos, Kimmie, I’ll go and get you some,” her father said, snapping her out of her internalised debate and causing her to physically jerk.

“Sorry,” Kim apologised, taking in a sharp breath; her eyes darting around as though she were checking to make sure her thoughts had not been projected for the entire restaurant to see.

“Are you ok, Kimmie?” her dad then asked, which was quickly followed by a concerned, “your back isn’t sore again, is it?”

“Yeah, I’m fine; back’s good,” she replied quickly. “I just got lost in thought.” Kim hesitated for a moment, her brain so split down the middle on whether she should or should not tell him that she would have been as well using a coin to decide. _If I managed to say it to Shego, I can say it to my dad,_ she then thought. While it only held true if she trivialised the matter down to the fact that her dad was her dad and Shego her nemesis, it was the best she had to try and break the deadlock without fishing in her pocket for the aforementioned coin. Kim felt her palms turn clammy and her left leg began to twitch nervously underneath the table. _Ok, I can do this, I can do anything._ “Dad,” she began slowly, feeling her heart begin to race inside her chest to the point she thought it might break out of her body and fly away like a bat out of hell. _Oh, God, what if he’s repulsed by me?_ She took a slow, deliberate inhale. _Surely dad would never feel that way about me… right?_ “…there’s something I need to tell you…” another pause; another slow breath. _Ok, Kim, you can do this, you can do anything. So, just come out and say it._ “I’m…” _gay,_ while she said the word internally, externally her lips made no sound, as a lump had formed in her throat. The twitch in her leg kicked up a gear, to the point it almost became a violent shake. _Oh, God, this was so much easier to say to Shego._ She tried to force the word out of her mouth but found it had turned bone dry and thus unable to utter anything. _What if this is like the whole pro-hero thing all over again and he tells me I need to be straight? …no, I have to tell him…_

While Kim reached for her soda cup to take a drink, her father used her pause as an opportunity to say, “this isn’t about a boy, is it?” He raised his eyebrows and gave her the look she knew oh so well when it came to the subject of her love life. “You know how I feel about you kissing boys, Kimmie. No kissing boys until after you graduate from college.”

Kim heard the unspoken, _“or ever,”_ and just had time for the thought, _if he still has an issue with me dating boys, how is he going to react when he finds out I actually like girls?_ before her mind was thrown back five years to the conversation they’d had the night after Lisa had kissed her. And from the depths of her mind, she heard her father’s words, _“however, there will be no kissing girls for you… ever,”_ ring in her ears as though he had just said them to her. The colour in her cheeks drained, perhaps a physiological representation of her courage slipping away … _I can’t tell him, not now. It took six months and my breakup with Ron for us to properly speak again after we fell out over the whole not going to college thing. I can’t go through that again, not after today has reminded me of how much I enjoy spending time with dad._

When she failed to answer, her father continued, “mind you, I didn’t mind Ronald too much. He was a safe choice; a father’s dream some might say. There was no danger of him ever trying to take advantage of you, forcing you to do something you weren’t comfortable with or heaven forbid, try to lay a hand on you.” He paused and looked ponderous for a moment, but Kim offered up no interjection. “Although, he does have that issue with his work ethic. But I was never concerned that it would rub off on you.” Her father nodded his head in agreement with his own viewpoint. “Yep, Ronald was a nice safe option, but he wasn’t the right fit for you, Kimmie-Cub.”

“Huh?” Kim uttered stupidly, having not been fully paying attention due to her mind having been scrambling to recover from her inability to come out and tell him that she was gay.

“While Ron was the safe choice that almost any father, including me, would approve of their daughter dating, he wasn’t the right fit for you,” her father reiterated.

“What?” she said in disbelief, completely gobsmacked by her father’s admission, given that Ron had been the only boy he had never taken an immediate disapproval to on simply hearing the name of.

Her father let out a long sigh, that of a general who has been fighting a losing battle for a long time and finally decided to surrender. “Whether I like it or not, Kimmie-Cub, you’re a fully grown adult now and part of being an adult is looking for someone you want to spend your life with. And while you being with someone like Ronald will make me happy… I don’t think that will make you happy.”

 _Well, you’re right there, given the fact that Ron’s a boy and I like girls, but I’m guessing that’s not where you’re taking this._ Now genuinely interested in what her father had to say on the matter, given the stark contrast between his current and normal attitude in regards to her love life, she momentarily forgot how panicked she’d been moments prior and gave her dad her full attention, to the point that both her heart rate and left knee slowed the pace of their respective rhythms. “What do you mean by that, Dad?” Kim asked curiously.

“You’re a very special young woman, Kim. And I’m not just saying that because you’re my daughter. You’ve done things that the vast majority of people would never even dream of and some of them before you were even sixteen,” her father began, then paused, looking as though he was searching for the best way to explain his thinking. After a few moments, he settled on, “what I’m trying to say is, that you deserve someone who understands you as a whole, not just the little bits and pieces of you that might reside in a small handful of common interests you have with them.”

Kim did not know what to say. While she’d always had a closer relationship with her dad, this was the sort of conversation that she reserved for her mom.

When she again failed to say anything meaningful, her father continued in that way he had a habit of doing, “I mean I understand why you eventually decided to date Ronald. The two of you had been inseparable since per-K. And he knew all about your adventurous side, given that he’d been with you on the vast majority of your missions up to that point in time. But…”

“…but he never fully understood it,” Kim finished for him. “While he was with me for so long, he sort of just got dragged into my hero work by virtue of being my best friend, rather than through choice.” It was only then, on making that admission out loud for the first time, that she felt what she suspected was some long overdue guilt on that matter. _Ron got scared so much of the time when we got into danger, while I was always arrogant enough to believe that I could get us both out of it safely. Yet he would never have been in any of those situations if it hadn’t of been what I wanted to do._ Internally, she shook her head. There would be time for guilt concerning Ron later. “That’s what you mean, isn’t it, Dad?”

Her father nodded, “something like that. The point is,” he sighed, “I think it’s going to take someone who’s every bit as special as you to make you truly happy, Kimmie-Cub.”

While she’d not really considered this notion before when trying to figure out why her previous relationships had failed and then thrown everything she thought she knew about her tastes and her relationship history out the window upon discovering that she was a lesbian, Kim could not help but feel her dad might have a point. However, that only resulted in a mirthless laugh floating through her mind, _and where exactly am I supposed to find someone that fully understands me… no one do…_ her thought process stopped dead in its tracks. _Heh, ok, so there is one person who gets me one-hundred-per cent; Shego._ Unfortunately, the subject of her rival was one she had been avoiding thinking about and not just because of the jailbreak. True, she was both anticipating and apprehensive about their next social encounter, however, the feelings she had experienced during their brief make-out session and what they could potentially mean still terrified her.

“So, what was it you were going to tell me?” her father then asked, catching her off guard.

“Oh, um…” Kim stammered, as her eyes frantically darted around the restaurant for anything that might help. Her gaze then fell upon a hairy man with tattoos all down his arms. “…I’m thinking of getting a tattoo,” she lied quickly and hoped this was one of those occasions where she sounded convincing.

“A tattoo,” her dad replied, sounding slightly shocked. “Kimmie, you know how your mother and I feel about…” he hastily stopped, clearly having realised what he had been in the middle of saying and quickly changed his words and stern tone, “if you’re certain that’s what you want to do, then that’s your decision to make. Just make sure you’re absolutely certain and that you choose to get it done somewhere that’s spotlessly clean. The last thing you want to get is an infection from a dirty tattooing needle.”

She laughed lightly, although it was more in relief at having sold the lie. Given the time she’d had that monkey tattoo, she’d transformed into a real monkey, complete with a tail, Kim had little desire to go and get a proper one. A single bad experience could sometimes put you off an idea for life. However, to placate her father and finish selling the lie, she replied, “don’t worry, I’ll make sure I’m certain **and** have Wade vet the parlour for its health and safety history.”

A look of semi-relief covered her father’s face after she had finished talking, however, quickly changed back to a smile. “So, if you’re feeling up for it, why don’t we pop over to the Middleton Science Centre? I hear they’ve got a new astrophysics exhibit that’ll blast you right into orbit!”

Kim knew the look of giddy excitement on her father’s face well; the same one he always wore when it had been time for the next Little Rocket Boosters Space Camp. “Dad,” she began and looked at him suspiciously, “you didn’t happen to have a hand in this exhibit, did you?”

Her father let out a jovial laugh and did not attempt to deny it, “well, it wouldn’t be much of an astrophysics exhibition without asking one of Middleton’s top rocket scientists to make a teensy-weensy contribution now, would it?”

She shook her head and chuckled at his lack of modesty; the moment where she had almost told him her secret and the related mini-meltdown she’d had over it now forgotten.

“So, how about it, Kimmie-Cub? Want to check out the interstellar exhibit with your old man?”

They’d had a fun day together already and Kim could easily tell that nothing would make him happier than to share his work with her in an adult fashion. “You know what, Dad, why not.”

The look in her father’s eyes somehow brightened even further and he immediately got to his feet. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get to the car and prepare for blast off!”

Draining the last of her soda, Kim rose from the booth and followed the positively bouncing figure of her father out of Bueno Nacho. While she may have failed in her hastily thought out attempt to tell her father that she was gay, Kim had gotten something equally important out of the day thus far. For the first time with either of her parents, she felt like their relationship had finally evolved into one between two adults, rather than the one between parent and child, which had been growing so wearisome over the past two years. Much to her surprise, she’d found that it did not mean all the fun parts of the old relationship she had enjoyed at various points in time were now consigned only to memory. Rather, it meant they got to find new ways to enjoy them together. And if she could not consider this a serious dent in the dark cloud of problems that had loomed over her ever since the revelation about her sexuality, she had no idea what she could. Kim left Bueno Nacho #582, having completely forgotten about this morning’s boredom or her displeasure at having been unable to go out on a mission. She was both content and happy.


	61. S219(U8): I'm moving through some changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, folks, I just have a quick point to make here before we get into the chapter. Thanks to some eagle-eyed reading from Celioxa, I've had to go back and make a slight addition to chapter 15: Where we start. When I wrote the chapter, I completely forgot to mention that Shego had Kim's personal jamming device with her when she was both asleep and up until the point she restored her glow. So, I've gone back and added it in, just in case any of you are confused by its appearance in this chapter.
> 
> The chapter title this time around is a lyric from the Yes song Changes; from their 90125 album and is a reference to what's been going on in Shego's life recently. Enjoy.

When Shego finally arrived home after restoring her glow, the searing green plasma that had enveloped her hands had finally dissipated. However, her glow itself had not; still shinning so bright that an onlooker would almost require sunglasses just to gaze upon her. Even if she could, she would not have extinguished it. After being without the green Team Go glow for nearly two weeks, she needed to feel its presence at every moment. To revel in the joy of being complete once more. She might have felt like shit, owing to the illness that still wracked her body, but she would not have traded her state of being for one where she was perfectly healthy but without her glow; either in or out of prison.

Shego awoke sometime the following afternoon, with only the vaguest recollection of what had happened after returning home the previous day. From the bottom of the stairs, she may or may not have called through to Ru-Ru, who she’d assumed had still been in the living room, that she was going to bed. She’d then and this was based purely on the fact that she currently lay atop her bed, made it upstairs and collapsed atop the mattress. She sat up, felt her head spin and promptly flopped back down. _Ok, note to self, don’t try that again so quickly._ Shego took a few stabilising breaths, waited for her head to clear and then tried again much more slowly. She succeeded in sitting up this time and cast her gaze around her bedroom. _Damn, it’s good to be home. Heh and to think I have Kimmie to thank for the fact I’m seeing this room after only eleven days. I wonder how her morals will hold up the next time I get…_ She quickly quashed the thought. _No, I am **not** going back to jail again. _While she always had a similar thought in the wake of escaping prison, there was an extra bite this time, perhaps due to the extra reasons she had to avoid it. For one thing, there was Brooks. She’d thrice escaped on the good Captain’s Watch now and knew the hateful woman would have her straight back in that freezing cold solitary confinement cell the moment she had finished processing her and probably for a month. Then there was Ru-Ru. She’d got damn lucky that the naked-mole-shark had found his way to Kimmie, otherwise, she would probably have never seen him again. And she did not want to think about what might have happened to him had GJ got their hands on him. Finally, there was…

Shego point-blank threw the last thought out of her mind and stood up. Not only had she failed to get underneath the covers yesterday, but she’d also not managed to strip out of the charred dregs of clothing that still clung to her body after her glow had exploded and incinerated the rest of the garments. She pulled a three-inch ring of blackened material that had once been red from around her right wrist and another, this one with a flap about three-by-four-inches, from her left shoulder; the only discernible remnants of her hoodie. A mesh of burnt material that may have been a mix of bra, t-shirt and hoodie clung to her breasts and virtually disintegrated when she pulled at it. Her trousers had fared slightly better; the waistband and a good portion of the upper left leg still intact. Her socks and shoes had either been consumed by the green inferno or fallen away as she had walked home. Undoing the button of her ex-combats, she hauled the waistband and solitary piece of trouser leg off. When they hit the ground, a blackened metal disc fell out of the pocket. She frowned at it and stooped to pick it up. _What the…?_ While it had not survived unscathed, a blinking light told her that it still worked. It took a moment for the memory to come back to her, _Kimmie’s personal jamming device._ She turned it over in her hand. _Seems like those little Tweebs of hers have been tinkering with science of the mad variety, as whatever that alloy is, its composition certainly won’t be found in any chemistry textbook._ Now completely naked; her glow still surrounding her, she turned the device off, set it down on her nightstand and headed for the bathroom.

It had been glorious to take a long soak in her jacuzzi and the water jets had worked wonders at relieving what tensions remained in her limbs. It had also been nice to take both a bath and wash in water that was more than just lukewarm. In fact, she’d been so relaxed that she’d almost yelled for Ru-Ru to get off his butt and bring her up a bottle of whiskey and a glass. She’d stopped short of that on account of not wanting to later find out what methods the naked-mole-shark used to get the bottle up the stairs to her. Climbing out of the tub, Shego’s still active glow vapourised the water on her skin before she’d even properly taken two steps away from it. Indeed, its still increased intensity meant that any of her hair that touched her skin immediately began to dry. She ran her hands through it a few times for good measure before heading for her wardrobe.

Selecting a pair of red leather trousers, black _Motörhead_ t-shirt and a black biker jacket, from her wardrobe, she put them on atop purple underwear and pulled on a pair of knee-high red riding boots, which matched her trousers. Running a brush through her hair, she then applied her preferred black lipstick and stopped to look at herself, _much better._ She felt much better too. While on a normal day her glow could not rid her of the common cold or other such viruses, the sheer intensity of it combined with what she suspected were heightened healing powers from having restored it in the manner that she had, had resulted in the virus and anything else her glow deemed not to belong inside her body, being eradicated and the symptoms healed overnight.

She’d found out exactly what happened to things her glow deemed did not belong in her body when she’d gone to get a cartilage piercing in her ear at age fourteen (her lobe piercings having been done a few months prior to the comet incident). Everything had been fine on the day of the piercing and the next. However, on the second day after she’d got it done, she’d activated her glow for some reason that she could no longer remember and it had immediately tried to heal the tiny hole, only to find a piece of metal in the way. It had promptly vapourised the earing and proceeded to heal the wound. She’d sworn loudly, as it had cost her several weeks’ worth of her allowance to get it done, been grounded by her mother for the expletive, which had caused her to do it again, resulting in a doubling of her punishment and later deduced that she’d have to avoid activating her glow for the duration of the healing process in order for any future hole to remain. She never had bothered with trying again.

Shego left her bedroom and headed downstairs, where she immediately heard the sound of the TV coming from the living room. _Guess I know what Ru-Ru’s doing, heh, no surprises there. I’m probably lucky he doesn’t know about video games or I’d never get him away from it… I haven’t played a video game in years… I wonder if they still make that Mario Kart game?_ That thought reminded her of another childhood memory, or rather of the countless occasions she’d spent playing the game with her brothers… or alone. When not with her brothers she’d spent a lot of her childhood alone after the comet incident. _And they wondered why they always got beaten by a girl._ Shego forcibly tossed the memory back into the dumpster pile that contained everything prior to her becoming a villain. _If I don’t stop wallowing through that crap pile I’m not going to get anywhere today._

Entering the living room, she found the naked-mole-shark lounging on the sofa. “Hey,” she greeted with a grin.

Ru-Ru turned his head to look up at her. “Better?” he asked, sounding as though if she wasn’t, he would march her straight back to bed.

“All better,” she replied, held up her left hand and briefly ignited her plasma.

“Good-good.” Ru-Ru then stood up, a sour expression forming on his face and practically exploded into a massive rant as he stormed across the sofa, from which she could discern, rah-rah-rah, no food, rah-rah-rah, hungry, rah-rah-rah, cheese, rah-rah-rah, cheese balls, RAH-RAH-RAH!”

When eventually he finished, Shego couldn’t help but burst out laughing. His expression darkened, to which she retorted, “well, maybe you would have been better off staying with Kimmie.”

“RAH!”

“So, you don’t want to go out for pancakes or to the store to buy food.” She saw him stop dead as his eyes widened but motioned to turn away.

“WAH!” Ru-Ru yelped and Shego could hear him scampering across the sofa to the arm.

She turned and looked down at the naked-mole-shark as he scrambled onto the sofa arm. “Wait, so you do want to come,” she said in mock surprise. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like to go back to Kimmie’s… or maybe even Amy’s?”

Ru-Ru shook his head emphatically, “ut-uh, ut-uh.” He then gave her his cute and innocent smile. “Home with Shego.”

Shego gave him a rare, warm smile and held her left palm out to him. He hopped on and she didn’t hesitate to lower him down so he could climb into the pocket on her trouser leg. _And to think how against this; against him staying, I was when I first discovered that he’d stowed away inside my jacket that night. Yeah, can’t deny that I’ve softened up a bit since my first year of villainy. I guess I also can’t deny that the Ru-Ru experiment has been an unequivocal success; I care about the cheeky little sod, simple as that. And, as much as I hate to admit it, little Miss Go is right, I am tired of the constraints I placed upon the Shego persona all those years ago…_

She pushed the thought to one side to deal with when she inevitably found herself alone on the sofa; probably with a bottle of spirits and argued through the matter, along with several others with her devil’s advocate. Heading through the house she picked up her bike helmet and gloves and headed for the garage. After checking the Blackbird over to make sure nothing had not somehow broken in the month since she’d last ridden it, Shego affixed the side and top boxes in which to carry the shopping on the return trip. She laughed internally at doing something so ‘normal’, which prior to her moving out of Drakken’s lair, she’d not done for several years. The mad-scientist having always sent the goons to do such menial tasks, not that she would have had he asked her to. Nowhere in her contract did it state she had to do his grocery shopping. Turning the ignition, she revved the Blackbird a few times, opened the garage door and guided it out.

“Ready to go?” she asked Ru-Ru before closing her helmet over.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, vroom-vroom!” the naked-mole-shark replied excitedly as he poked his head out of her trouser pocket.

“Then let’s go.” She closed the garage door behind her and sped off down the drive. She was going to enjoy this.

##

Late brunch, lunch or whatever you wanted to call it with Ru-Ru, had been both relaxing and enjoyable. With no guards around to yell at her to hurry up, or the three stooges to annoy her with their incessant babbling, or Bonnie to protect from whoever she’d pissed off this time, Shego had been free to take her time and savour the meal. And despite Kimmie having made more than edible pancakes the previous day, they had not been a patch on those in Mama Joy’s. Despite his ravenous appetite, the naked-mole-shark had expressed an unexpected concern that she had been willing to walk around in public so soon after escaping jail. To which she had replied by explaining about the near blanket perception surrounding supervillains and how virtually no-one would expect to see Shego doing something normal and so would not notice her and that GJ would not have made her escape public knowledge, to avoid painting the authorities as incompetent and increasing panic levels. After pancakes, they’d taken a quick trip around the grocery store to replenish their food supplies and headed back home.

Shego reclined on a comfortable sun lounger out on the rear porch that overlooked the lake. A fruit mojito; your standard mojito with fresh strawberries, pineapple, kiwi and orange added for a fresh summer feel, perched on a low table beside her. When she’d arrived home, she’d changed from her leathers into a green bathing suit and gone for a swim; Ru-Ru accompanying her. It transpired his fin and gills were not just for show; he could swim like a mini-torpedo. Afterwards, she’d donned a green and black sarong and a pair of sunglasses, mixed a large jug of the fruity cocktail and taken a glass of it outside onto the sun-baked porch, along with a copy of A Storm of Swords, which she’d remembered about upon passing a bookstore on the way to the grocery store; she’d popped inside and bought a copy. However, at present, the book remained on the table beside her drink, as she basked in the warmth of the evening suns glow. Her own glow she had finally extinguished when she’d reached Middleton. Green-tinged skin she could get away with, a bright green glow surrounding her… even an idiot would surely spot that.

“Hey, Ru-Ru,” Shego said lazily to the naked-mole-shark, who was lounged atop one of the porch chairs with a packet of cheese balls, “how do you fancy a trip to the Bahamas?”

Ru-Ru looked up at her quizzically and asked, “bananas? Icky, yuck-yuck!”

She laughed, “not bananas, Bahamas. Tropical islands, lots of sun and killer relaxation spots. How about it?”

The naked-mole-shark looked ponderous for a moment, then asked, “cheese?”

“Yes, Ru-Ru, I’m sure we’ll be able to find you some cheese.”

She received an emphatic nod of agreement.

“Good, because we’ll be leaving on Monday.”

Ru-Ru gave her another quizzical look, “work?”

Shego let out an overexaggerated yawn, “until Dr D manages to get himself out of prison, we’re on holiday and I am desperately in need of a vacation. So, it’ll be the Bahamas for a week or two, after which, who knows?”

The naked-mole-shark’s beady black eyes lit up and he excitedly declared, “Holland!”

“Holland?” she asked, “seriously? I didn’t take you for the windmill and clogs type.”

“Ut-uh, ut-uh. Gouda, Leerdammer, Boerenkaas!”

 _Gouda… Leerdammer… Borenkass… wait a minute,_ “those are all types of cheese!”

“Uh-hu, uh-hu,” he replied excitedly.

“You want me to take you all the way to Holland, just so you can get some cheese?” Shego asked incredulously. “Can’t I just take you to a cheesemonger instead?”

“Ut-uh, pilgrimage,” Ru-Ru said with a grin.

“Pilgrimage? You do know that cheese **isn’t** a religion, right?”

The naked-mole-shark looked at her sourly, “is too.”

Shego gave him a pointed look. “Oh yeah, then who’s your god?”

She received one of his devilish smiles as he said simply, “Cheesus.”

 _Cheesus! Oh, for Christ’s sake!_ She couldn’t help it and burst out laughing. “Ok, so that was funny. But I’m still not taking you to Holland just for some damn cheese.”

Ru-Ru’s features morphed into his version of Kimmie’s infamous puppy-dog-pout, “pweese.”

She met his eyes with a steely gaze, but could already feel her resolve start to crumble. “Urgh, fine. **If** we end up in Europe, we can go to Holland for a day or two and you can get your cheese.”

“Woo-hoo!”

“However, that’s the last time I’m letting you watch World of Cheese,” Shego said and took a long drink of her fruit mojito. She didn’t mean it and he knew it, however, she felt as though she needed to exact some sort of price for him using that damn look of Kimmie’s on her. A thought then creeped into her head that she had to quickly quash, _and if my father had heard your blasphemy, he’d have tanned your backside._

Sitting her glass back down, she was about to roll onto her front, when she heard a ringing sound coming from inside the house. _What the hell is that?_ It was only on hearing it again that she realised it was her new cell phone. After her old one had been crushed when Kimmie had kicked her over that railing all those weeks ago in the communications centre, she’d procured a new one, but barely used it, having accidentally left it at home when she’d left for the volcano lair and having never bothered to swing by to pick it up. In fact, leaving it at home had simply highlighted how little she used it, though it should have come as no surprise, given that she didn’t do friends and only had a handful of other villains or other work-related contacts. _It’s a sad state of affairs when Dr Drakken is your most frequently contacted individual._ However, that begged the question, _who on earth is calling me?_

Deciding she did not care enough to find out, Shego let the phone ring out and rolled over, however, before she’d managed to get comfortable, it had started again. By the fourth round of rings, it finally irritated her enough to go and deal with. _Urgh, fine, I’m coming,_ she groaned internally, as she grudgingly stood up and wandered into the house. _However, if this is Hench looking to offload more of his crappy merchandise, I’m going to go over there and…_

“What?” she said irritably, as she flipped open the handset and brought it to her ear.

“Ummm…” the voice on the other end mumbled, probably at the harshness off her reply, before finding the courage to say, “…I’m looking for Miss Go.”

Shego almost dropped the handset upon hearing the name and the shock momentarily prevented her from recognising the voice of the caller. _What the…_ However, realisation quickly set in. “Bonnie?” she asked in confusion. Had it not been for the fact that her cell phones could never be traced; not even by Kimmie’s nerdlinger friend, she would have hung up immediately. Before the girl could reply, she hissed, “where did you get this number? If Brooks finds out who you’re calling, she’ll have you hauled off to an interrogation room and you’ll find out just how nasty she can be.”

“Well, duh. I’m not a complete idiot,” Bonnie spat derisively, “why do you think I’m looking for Miss Go?”

A thin smile formed on Shego’s lips, “fair point,” _seems I at least managed to teach her about discretion being queen while in prison._ “However, where did you even get this number?”

She could hear the residual suffering in Bonnie’s voice when she said, “from Dr Drakken. I had to sit and play a game of Monopoly with him and the other two stooges before he would give it to me.”

Shego almost burst out laughing as she pictured the scene. In fact, she didn’t need to, having lived it herself. “Let me guess, he claimed to have made a few ‘financial missteps’ when he went bankrupt,” she replied, imitating the mad-scientist when she said the words ‘financial missteps’.

“Urgh, you wouldn’t believe how bad he is at that game!” Bonnie exclaimed. “Even Junior can probably manage finances better than he can!”

This time she did laugh, however, it quickly faded and her tone became serious, “look, why did you call me? Like I said, if Brooks has her flunkies listening in, you can be in for a whole world of trouble.”

“I know that,” Bonnie practically cried, her voice laced with desperation, “but I needed to talk to someone and…” there was a pause for a few moments before the girl made what sounded like an admission she had not wanted to voice out loud; to make real, “…and you’re the only person who’s shown me a shred of kindness or been remotely friendly towards me since I got arrested. I’ve tried calling my parents, but they won’t talk to me. They say I’ve disgraced the family name. And it turns out that none of my old friends even care about me… that they were only my friends because it made them popular… I’ve got no one.”

On the other end, Shego could hear Bonnie begin to sob. While she knew she would be safe from GJ, even if Brooks had someone listening in and they figured out to whom the former cheerleader was talking, she still felt the urge to hang up. However, something about the girl, whether it be the small kindness Bonnie had shown her when picking her up off the floor and helping her into bed or empathy for her plight, caused her to instead say, “Bonnie, calm down, you’re going to be alright. Surely Junior will be out of the infirmary soon.”

Alas, her words did not help matters.

“He already is!” Bonnie wailed and the sound of her tears intensified. “Brooks put him in cellblock B; on the opposite side of the prison! I can’t even see him!”

 _Shit! I should have known Brooks would do something like that. There was no way she would ever have let them be in the same cellblock. She probably finds the idea of having bar-crossed lovers highly amusing._ It was on having that thought that Shego felt an uncharacteristic pang of guilt at having escaped. She’d promised to keep Bonnie safe in her fiancé’s stead until he got out the infirmary. However, she had escaped and Junior been put in a different cellblock, leaving the girl to fend for herself. _Shit, she’s in trouble._ She rolled her eyes, _the least I can do is talk to her for a bit and give her some advice on how to survive now I’m not there._ “Ok, Bonnie, you need to calm down and listen to me.”

“How am I supposed to calm down!” Bonnie cried. “We only got out of lockdown this morning and already two people have taken a swing at me once they realised that…” there was a brief pause and Shego suspected that the girl had quickly decided to rephrase the end of her sentence, “…that it was Shego who escaped.”

“That’s why you need to listen to me,” she said firmly. “Now that Shego’s gone, anyone who still has a grudge against you will be gunning for you, which means you need to attach yourself to another big fish in order to drive them away.”

“How am I supposed to do that? I don’t want to end up as someone’s bitch.” The fear and near resignation in Bonnie’s words was palpable now. When they had first spoken about this subject, the former cheerleader had point-blank refused to let herself become her bitch in exchange for protection. However, now she almost seemed resigned to becoming someone’s bitch just to survive.

“Right, listen to me. You’re not going to like this, but it’s better than any alternative.” She actually sighed herself when she said, “you need to stick close to Drakken.”

“What!” Bonnie exclaimed. “Drakken and his cronies will drive me mad within a day!”

“Yeah, I know, trust me, I work for the guy. However, despite how inept he is at taking over the world, Dr Drakken is still one of the most prolific supervillains on the planet, thus he’s top tier when it comes to street cred in there. Not to mention he hangs with Professor Dementor. If you stick close to Drakken, no one will bother you.”

“But…” Bonnie began.

Shego swiftly cut her off, “yeah, you’ll be stuck playing board games with the three stooges and possibly even cousin Ed. However, it’s better that than people beating the crap out of you every day. Besides, I’m sure you’ll be able to fill in for Shego when it comes to the sass and sarcasm. Just tell him you’ll be their fourth player and he’ll probably let you play without question. If he does ask, tell him I sent you.”

“Urgh,” Bonnie moaned, “fine. I’ll sit and play Clue, Monopoly, Jenga and whatever other games those three idiots can find. However…” the girl paused again and it sounded to Shego like she was chewing her lip, “…can I talk to you for a bit…? I think you’re the first person who’s ever been my friend for any reason that isn’t to do with the fact that I’m popular.”

She almost hung up the phone again, however, forced herself to say,” hold on just a minute I’m not…” but then quickly stopped. _I’m not her friend… I don’t do friends. Whatever gave her that idea?_ She opened her mouth to say just that; to continue where she had left off, except she couldn’t bring herself to kick the girl when she was down. Maybe it was because she had been reminiscing on her own youth earlier that day, but instead of responding with her normal coldness, she felt a strong sense of empathy towards the girl. _She’s all alone in a hell she can’t escape from and is desperately searching for something to cling to. And I know exactly how she must be feeling._ Pinching the bridge of her nose and rolling her eyes at the fact she was about to do something un-Shego like, she hastily finished, “…I’m not near comfortable enough for a heart to heart. So, you’re just going to have to wait until I get back out into the sun and have a drink of my fruit mojito.”

“Seriously, you’re sitting out in the sun and have booze. That is so unfair.”

Shego listened to Bonnie complain as she strolled back out onto the porch and lay back on her sun lounger. Picking up her glass, she took a sip of her fruit mojito before saying, “ok, so what do you want to talk about?”

##

The sun was beginning to set but it was still nice and warm out on Shego’s rear porch. She’d sat and listened to Bonnie talk for the fifteen minutes that had remained of the former cheerleader’s phone time, feeling more like a therapist than a friend, something that had both brought back more memories from the dumpster pile that was her pre-villainess life and made her feel oddly more comfortable. Afterwards, she’d made dinner for herself and Ru-Ru; beef tacos with a side of loaded potato skins and they’d eaten out in the sun. Now, apart from the naked-mole-shark’s snoring, everything was quiet; peaceful. She was finally alone.

Shego took a drink of her fruit mojito, then sat the glass back down on the low table. She’d pulled a pair of denim shorts and a white t-shirt on atop her bathing suit before making dinner. _I know you’re just dying to sit and dissect everything I’ve done recently, so you might as well get your ass out here and let’s get this over with._

A light laugh filled her head, _“well, that’s possibly the closest you’ve ever gotten to admitting you want to talk,”_ the voice of Miss Go said lightly inside her mind. _“So, let’s talk. How about we start with Bonnie? That was a nice thing you did for her this evening.”_

Shego laughed, _what, condemning her to the company of Drakken, Dementor and Lucre for the foreseeable future?_

_“Well, if it keeps her safe… however, that’s not what I’m talking about and you know it.”_

_So, I sat and listened to her talk for fifteen minutes, big deal,_ she snorted.

 _“She called you her friend and you didn’t deny it,”_ Miss Go said calmly but with an air of caution, knowing that the insinuation could well result in her blowing up.

Shego maintained her cool. _She was teetering on the edge of a very dark hole and I didn’t want to kick her into it, I’m not that cruel._

_“But there was a time when you wouldn’t have thought twice about doing it. In fact, you probably would have laughed at her as you booted her over the edge.”_

She took a long drink of her cocktail as she listened to the claim and knew she could not refute it. In those early days after becoming a villain, she’d been in a permanent state of angry and downright nasty to anyone who crossed her path, to the point that she’d reached for her plasma far more often than her words. _I genuinely was evil back then, no remorse, not a shred of pity or compassion,_ she admitted slowly. _I hurt anyone who got in my way and laughed at how pathetic they were._

 _“But you managed to get over it,”_ Miss Go said encouragingly. _“You changed then and you’re slowly changing now.”_

_I changed then because my anger ebbed enough for me to realise that I couldn’t carry on down that path._

_“Yes, but you still wanted everyone else to think you were evil,”_ Miss Go stated plainly. _“I must have lost count of the number of times you had to state that you were evil to someone. And you know what they say, anyone who has to declare they are evil isn’t actually…”_

 _Oh, save me your proverbial bullshit,_ Shego snapped. She reached out a hand to pick up her drink and her eyes caught sight of her book sitting beside her glass. A thin smile formed on her face and she took a drink. _You must be getting desperate if you’re resorting to lifting your proverbs from things I’ve recently read. And I’m pretty sure he was talking about kings, not evil people._

The dig did nothing to discourage Miss Go. _“The point remains, you’re not evil and haven’t been for a very long time. I’d even say we can probably go as far as to count that brief period as just a blip on your personality.”_

 _Yeah, yeah, I’m not evil. Tell me something I don’t already know,_ Shego said smugly, happy that for once she was giving as good as she was got. _Or are you all out of ammo?_

It had probably been unwise of her to deliberately antagonise her devil’s advocate. _“Well, if you’re so desperate to get back to the original point, I’ll happily oblige. You made a friend in Bonnie. Now, do you wish to accept that fact and move on, or shall we go through the whole rigmarole of you denying it until such a time as I managed to lead you into the pitfall trap of admittance?”_

 _Just because I helped her out while we were cellmates, doesn’t make us friends,_ Shego retorted coolly. She elected not to rise to the bait on the grounds that she felt exceptionally chilled out and had no mind to spoil her good mood.

 _“Pitfall trap it is then and I had such high hopes for you after all the progress we made prior to your incarceration and then again with how you handled the whole Kim situation. Which I’m exceptionally proud of you for, but we’ll get to her in a moment,”_ Miss Go replied with a light laugh. _“Back to the subject of Bonnie and not only did you step in to help her with Morgan, but you then formally agreed to help keep her safe after someone attacked her. Then after she helps you, you sat her down and helped her make a start on confronting some serious psychological issues when there was a far easier solution to be had. And then today, after you’re out of jail and no longer have reason to care no less, you not only gave her advice that will help keep her alive, but you then sat and spoke with her afterwards,”_ Miss Go paused to let her words sink in before finishing with, _“care to concede the point yet?”_

 _Never! First of all, I was completely out of my head when I stumbled upon her about to get beaten up by Morgan. Second, I was still out of my head when I offered to protect her until Junior got out of the infirmary. Third, I was ill and did not want to get into a fight or run the risk of getting thrown back in the hole. And finally…_ Shego paused upon realising she had no straightforward way of explaining her actions earlier that evening, _…she caught me in a good mood today, so I threw her a bone, big whoop._

Miss Go let out a light laugh, as though she were watching an episode of her favourite sit-com. _“If that’s the best defence you have, then you really might want to just accept the fact that Bonnie is your friend.”_

 _I don’t do friends,_ Shego snapped and went to take a drink of her fruit mojito, only to find the glass was empty. _Bastard._ She stood up and wandered into the living room, through to the kitchen and headed for the refrigerator.

 _“Don’t say I didn’t give you the opportunity to admit it,”_ Miss Go said airily, while Shego refilled her glass with what remained in the jug she had made that afternoon. She managed to make it back to her sun lounger and get settled before her devil’s advocate continued, _“let’s tackle those first two points together, as your reason for doing both is the same.”_

 _Which is?_ Shego said dryly and took a sip of her beverage.

_“The effects of the GJ serum. It deadens your personality to the point that you’re reduced to only being able to act and react in a basic manner. And your basic nature compelled you to both help save Bonnie from a vicious beating by Morgan and then to protect her from all the other nasties that reside in that hell hole.”_

_I’m completely out of my mind after they inject me with that damn stuff!_ Shego exclaimed in annoyance. _I had no idea what I was doing on either occasion._

 _“That’s a lie and you know it,”_ Miss Go sing-song’ed. _“You helped her on both of those occasions because deep down, you’re not cold and heartless, despite the front your Shego persona shows the world. However, moving on, not only did you have the option of letting Bonnie suffer the consequences of her own actions, which you didn’t take, you also chose not to solve the problem for her. What was it you said at the time, ‘give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish and you feed him for life’?”_

 _That’s not…_ Shego began hotly but quickly stopped on realising she was now in a pitfall trap that had been dug by her own words. _Fine, ok, so I helped her out a couple of times and then sat her down to help her deal with her actual problems. It’s not my fault that I did a degree in child development and so am trained to spot that sort of thing. But that doesn’t make us friends!_

 _“If you’re not her friend, then why didn’t you hang up the moment you knew who was calling this evening?”_ Miss Go asked, daring her to provide a better explanation than, ‘she caught me in a good mood’. _“You know fine well it would have been the safer option; just in case GJ have figured out a way to track your cell phone.”_

 _I…_ Shego began but knew she lacked the required explanation. She was out of jail. What happened to Bonnie now was in no way shape or form her concern anymore; if it ever had been at all. Yet she knew she had felt guilty at having left the girl alone to fend for herself. _She doesn’t deserve to be in there, ok,_ she finally said firmly. It was neither acceptance nor denial of Miss Go’s claim, simply her belief on the matter. _…And I feel sorry for her._

 _“Yes, you do, which in itself is a huge step forward for you,”_ Miss Go said warmly. _“And it’s nothing you should fight against,”_ the woman then added quickly, perhaps sensing that drawing attention to such a positive change in her personality might cause her to forcibly relapse.

She chose not to argue the point. The evidence with both Bonnie and Kimmie far too incriminating. Whether she liked it or not, she was slowly breaking the rules of her Shego persona and it felt… refreshing.

When she failed to say anything in retort, Miss Go took that as an indication to continue, _“You know exactly how Bonnie is feeling at the moment; how she was feeling when you first properly spoke with her back in jail and you can empathise with her because you’ve been there yourself.”_

 _She’s all alone in a hell she can’t escape from and is desperately searching for something to cling to,_ Shego said, repeating the thought she’d had earlier when Bonnie had asked if they could talk for a bit longer. _Yeah, I’ve been there… twice…_

 _“And both times you would have given anything to have a friend to talk to,”_ Miss Go said softly.

She sighed, _yeah, you’re right. Maybe if I’d had a friend the second time, I might never have fallen into villainy… into evil._ Shego shook her head at having caught herself having such a melancholy thought and she took a long drink of her fruit mojito. _Ok, fine. So, I’m sort of friends with Bonnie. There, are you happy?_

_“The question you should really be asking is: are you happy?”_

_As soon as Bonnie is back on the outside, she’ll forget all about me and that’ll be the end of it,_ Shego replied flatly. _So, I’m not going to be anything about it._

 _“Fair enough, you’re still afraid of getting hurt, that’s understandable,”_ Miss Go said cautiously. _“However, don’t assume how Bonnie will react when she gets out. You made some headway with her when you started talking through her issues with her and today, she admitted that she’s finally realised that none of her old friends were really her friends. You might be right, spending some time in jail might be the best thing for her. And after you talk to her a couple more times, she might begin to realise what having a true friend is like.”_

 _And how am I going to end up talking to her a couple more times?_ Shego asked dryly.

 _“Because you know as well as I do that she’s going to phone you next week,”_ Miss Go replied smugly.

Shego groaned and did not bother to argue the claim. Bonnie had been that desperate to talk to someone with even a shred of normality that she’d suffered through an entire game of Monopoly with the three stooges, just so she could get her phone number from Drakken. And after a week of putting up with them, the former cheerleader would be clawing up the walls of the rec-room just to hear another sane voice. _Can we move on from Bonnie now? I think I’d almost rather talk about…_

 _“Kim,”_ Miss Go said brightly, stealing the word right out of her mouth, _“yes. I’m glad you're so eager to move on to that particular subject.”_

She did a literal facepalm, took a drink and realised she didn’t have nearly enough fruit mojito left to survive this particular conversation. _If you’re going to be so peppy about it, I take it back._

 _“Sorry, no backsies,”_ Miss Go said playfully. _“So, Kim breaks you out of jail and the two of you work through your issues while on the road back to Middleton. You then spend the night at her place, listen to her confess that she’s gay; the first person she’s ever told no less and then you do the compassionate thing and agree to go out for a drink with her so you can help her with the issues she’s having. I am so proud of you!”_

If there was something worse than being led into a pitfall trap by her devil’s advocate, it was hearing that it was proud of something she had done, as it made Shego feel like she had betrayed her own nature. Unfortunately, she was guilty as charged and not just of the ones listed. Everything she had done concerning Kimmie since that night in Heartbeats had been against the rules of her Shego persona. Yet the empathy she had felt towards the hero while watching her flutily trying to prove she was straight had been strong enough to break through the mask she wore and it seemed to have left an irreparable and slowly widening crack. _I helped Kimmie realise that she’s a lesbian, but we both know that’s not the end of the process. It takes time to go from acceptance to comfortable and that period can be just as nasty as the one before it… I know that all too well._

 _“You’re doing a good thing in helping her and I know that you already know that. The real question is, what happens now?”_ Miss Go asked, her tone having become serious.

 _I don’t know,_ Shego answered truthfully. Ever since they had made out in the volcano lair, she’d had almost zero time in her right mind to start to process how she felt about it and even the brief period of time where she could have, she’d still been so angry at Kimmie for having sent her to jail in the first place, that she had point-blank refused to entertain the subject. However, now she had no such obstacle in her way.

_“Well, now that you don’t feel the need to fight Kim anymore…”_

_I never said that,_ Shego cut in. _I still want to fight Kimmie, I just don’t have the urge to beat the shit out of her and leave her as a pile of broken limbs._

Miss Go laughed, _“I guess some things never change. And I’ll bet she feels the exact same way.”_ The woman’s tone returned to being serious, _“the pair of your feminine urges aside, let’s go back to what happened in the volcano lair,”_ there was a brief pause before Miss Go quickly added, _“after the two of you knocked lumps out of one another and you convinced her to kiss you and before those generators blew up. How did it feel?”_

Shego said nothing as she willingly recalled the memory for the first time since the event. She’d wrapped an arm around Kimmie’s waist under the pretence of stopping the hero from backing out of the kiss, but it had been her own desire to feel the fiery-haired vixen’s body pressed up against her own that had been the real reason for the move. _That kiss may have been the only opportunity I ever got to have a proper taste of her and I wanted to get as much out of it as I could and savour it._

 _“You find her exceptionally attractive,”_ it was not a question.

 _How can I not?_ Shego replied, not even bothering to put up the slightest resistance, as she’d already accepted that fact after masturbating to the hero the night before they had kissed. _Kimmie’s a woman grown now, is both sexy and cute, has that gorgeous mane of red hair and those beautiful olive-green eyes. What can I say, despite the fact we’re on opposite sides of the hero/villain coin, she ticks all my boxes._

_“How did it feel when you kissed her that first time?”_

The scent of cherry and almond filled Shego’s nostrils from memory as her eyes closed and she allowed herself to relive the moment. Bodies pressed together, she had stared into those fury-filled olive-green eyes; Kimmie having still been murderously angry, as their lips had gently touched. The spark had struck up inside her instantaneously and she had immediately opened her mouth. She had felt the hero’s trembling lips part and slipped her tongue inside her mouth. Gently she had coaxed the girl’s tongue out to play and like two flames they had danced together until both of them had run out of breath.

 _It felt…_ Shego found herself unable to find words that adequately described how it had felt that first time she had kissed Kimmie, eventually settling on the completely inadequate, … _good._

As always, Miss Go cut straight to the heart of the matter, _“you can’t describe how it felt, can you?”_

 _…No…_ she finally agreed. _I’ve never felt anything like that… not even with… you know who._

 _“Ok…”_ Miss Go said, sounding quite taken aback by the admission and perhaps slightly put out that she had been robbed of the opportunity to tease the admission from her. _“How does that make you feel?”_

The memory of the barrel of lust exploding in the fires of desire filled Shego’s mind and she drowned in the sheer blissful, raw passion that had flowed effortlessly between herself and Kimmie, as they had been drawn back together and engaged in a furious, albeit short make-out session. It only ended when in her memory, the generators powering Drakken’s lightning ray blew. The blast sent Shego hurtling back to reality and her eyes opened with a snap and she sat bolt upright. “Holy shit,” she breathed raggedly, as the final embers of the encounter ebbed. She immediately turned her body to fetch her glass and take a drink to steady her nerves, however, as her thighs rubbed together, she could feel the stickiness in her crotch. _Fuck, that was… intense._ She quickly took that drink.

 _“Well, if that memory isn’t enough to get you all hot and bothered, I don’t know what is,”_ Miss Go then said playfully. _“I wonder just how far the two of you might have gone if those stupid generators hadn’t of blown.”_

 _I don’t know,_ Shego admitted, as she took a few deep breaths, followed by that drink to settle herself. _I can’t speak for Kimmie, but my self-control was gone after that first kiss. Had those damn generators not blown when they had, I was probably only a few kisses away from trying to strip her out of that battle suit._

 _“I suspect Kim lost all her self-control too,”_ Miss Go postulated. _“And I think we both know where that scenario was headed and you sound annoyed that it didn’t get there.”_

 _I wanted to have her every which way I could and fate denied me that,_ Shego spat in annoyance, although it was not at her devil’s advocate. _Kimmie’s cute, sexy and I’m attracted to her…_ A barrage of thoughts about all the things she could possibly do to the heroine if she had her way, filled Shego’s mind and a wicked smile formed on her thin lips. … _And_ _I still want her every which way I can, at least once._

 _“You know that’s going to take a lot more work and effort now,”_ Miss Go cautioned. _“You toppled Kim’s defences with the revelation that she enjoyed that first kiss and like yourself, she lost control. She’s not likely going to fall into your lap so easily a second time. You’ll need to guide her there willingly of her own accord.”_

 _Kimmie’s nowhere near ready for that,_ Shego said with a hint of bitterness.

 _“Exactly,”_ Miss Go agreed. _“Which begs the question, what do you intend to do? If you want her, you’re going to have to play the long game **and** be willing to pay the entrance fee, whatever that might be. Are you sure you’re ready to do that?”_

 _She’s not some hooker,_ Shego snorted in disgust, catching herself slightly by surprise.

 _“A poor choice of words on my part,”_ Miss Go said apologetically. _“However, we both know that Kim is going to want something in return and you can bet you’ll have to give it to her before she feels comfortable enough to give you what you want. So, I’ll ask you again, are you prepared to do that?”_

Shego did not have an answer to the woman’s question and suspected she would not until such a time as she found herself faced with the situation in question. In the dark depths of her mind, she could just make out a different voice, a splintered fragment of her Shego persona, yell at her that nothing about her recent actions and feelings towards Kimmie was right and that she needed to return to the safety and security of them simply being hero and villain; nemeses. However, she chose to drown the voice out with the last of her fruit mojito. _I don’t know, but there’s only one way to find out._

The image of a smiling Miss Go formed in her mind as the woman said, _“that’s good. Now I think it’s time you sent that message.”_

 _Yeah,_ Shego agreed and picked up her cell phone from the table. Flipping it open she found Kimmie’s name in her short list of contacts and quickly composed a message: _Saturday night, Spritzers; 8 pm,_ and hit send.

 _“You know, Kimmie might not be ready yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t show her what’s on offer once she is,”_ Miss Go said as she set her phone back down.

 _Heh, aren’t you getting a bit naughty,_ Shego said with a grin. _However, it’s a fair point. Kimmie was definitely checking me out last time we went for a drink, let’s really give her something to check out this time._

It was a strange thing for Shego to find herself in agreement with her devil’s advocate and for her not to be arguing with it. And she had to admit, it felt quite good, refreshing even. While her time in prison certainly had not convinced her to turn over a new leaf in terms of her occupation, she could not help but feel that she had left a changed woman. Perhaps it was poetic then that she sat watching a beautiful sunset as she embraced this fact. For the first time in a long, long time, Shego had something to look forward to in life and she could not wait to see where it might lead.


	62. S220(U8): The heart of the matter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, finally made it! My apologies to any of you early birds who read the first two chapters of this update and were wondering where the third one was. I had to go out for a couple of hours before I had a chance to finish posting it, but it's here now. 
> 
> Ok, so this chapter was supposed to be a fairly straightforward and relatively short affair, so, naturally, it broke my record for the longest chapter I've ever written (third or fourth time I've done that is this fic) and comes in at a whopping 13568 words! However, I'll explain what happened at the end. For the chapter title, I've gone with the title of my favourite Don Henley (of the Eagles) solo song: The heart of the matter and it's is all about starting to work through your anger towards someone so that you can move on. The reason? Read on to find out. Enjoy.

It was just after eleven pm and Kim Possible felt both happy, tired, but also a little sore. After leaving Bueno Nacho, she’d toured the new astrophysics exhibit at the Middleton Science Centre with her dad. Where it transpired that he’d made more than just a small contribution to an exceptionally fun and interactive exhibit. She’d asked him about it and while he’d insisted he’d only had a small part in it, the curator had been more than happy to tell her the truth of the matter. It seemed her father had originally been asked to contribute to a drab, lifeless exhibit that would have made enthusiasts yawn in boredom and caused children to wish they were back in school. Indeed, when he had been asked for his opinion, it had been exactly those words that had convinced the curator to take her dad out to dinner and quiz him on what he would do in order to engage people; especially children. One long conversation about the Little Rocket Boosters later and the curator had scrapped everything, hired someone who knew how to create engaging educational attractions and set about redesigning the exhibit based around her father’s principles of keeping everything fun and interactive. The entire visit, which had included coffee with the curator and a trip around the rest of the science centre too, had lasted nearly five hours, after which her father had called home to tell Jim and Tim to order themselves pizza and then insisted he take her out to dinner. She had not hesitated in saying yes and they had enjoyed a lovely meal in a French restaurant; her dad’s attempt to help refine her taste buds.

Kim drained the last of a glass of apple sours and lemonade and turned off the TV. She winced slightly as she rose from the sofa and took the glass through to the kitchen to place inside the dishwasher. _Ok, so despite some pain in my back and not being able to go out on a mission, today was a good day. And dad finally treating me like an adult felt so refreshing. I’ll need to ensure I make time for him moving forward. At least he’s one person I won’t mind spending time with when I’m home…_ she let the thought die there, not willing to let her feelings towards ‘other’ people in her life sour her mood.

Leaving the kitchen, Kim headed across the main living area towards the hall that led to her bedroom, her stride shorter than usual and with a slight limp. Neither of which she was able to ignore, despite how much she wanted to. _I’m just a bit stiff and a little sore because I was on my feet almost all day, I’ll be fine come morning…_ she let that thought die too. If she did not feel back to normal come morning, she would have to take tomorrow off too … _it’s the sensible thing to do. Damn, I hate being sensible!_ She had just set foot in the short hall when the sound of her doorbell ringing caused her to pause. _Who on earth is it at this hour?_ Turning, she headed down the step and had made it halfway to the door before stopping dead in her tracks. _Mom! Dad will have told her about my back and so she’ll have come straight over after work to check on me._ She immediately felt both a sense of annoyance and appreciation at the implications of her deduction and both directed squarely at the woman whom she knew stood on the other side of the door. Annoyance, due to her current disposition towards her mom and what she considered continual attempts to interfere with her life and appreciation, not gratitude, that despite the current state of affairs between them, her mom had still chosen to come and see if she was ok. For a heartbeat, she thought about turning around and going to bed; leaving her mom out on her doorstep until such a time as she got the message and left. The sound of the doorbell ringing again drove that idea from her mind. _If I’m not going to let her in, she at least deserves to hear it from me._ She held this notion in her mind as she crossed the main living area to the door. _I’m just going to open the door, tell her I’m fine, that I don’t want or need her help and that’s it._

Keeping the door on its reinforced steel chain, Kim opened it and peered through the three-inch crack at the tall, red-haired woman who stood on her doorstep. “Mom,” she said in a stiff, lukewarm tone.

“Kim,” her mom replied, sounding relieved that the door had even been opened, “how are you?”

 _Like you haven’t already made up your mind before even seeing me,_ she thought bitterly, however, simply said, “I’m fine.”

There was a moment’s hesitation before her mom ventured, “your father told me you’d hurt your back…”

 _I figured that much,_ she paused as she looked the woman up and down, “you’ve not even been home yet, have you?” she asked the question but could tell just from the fact the woman still had her lab-coat on that she hadn’t. Yet despite her displeasure towards the woman, she couldn’t shake the feeling of appreciation that her mom had come directly to her apartment to ensure she was ok.

“I came straight here after work. Your father messaged me earlier in the day to let me know,” her mom answered by way of an explanation.

 _Of course he did._ However, she found it difficult to hold it against her father, given how much fun she’d had with him that day and that her mom would have gotten it out of him within an hour of coming home and come over anyway. _Dad never could hide anything from mom._

The woman in front of her then quickly asked, “please, can I come in?”

“Mom, you can’t just…” she began to say, unfortunately, her mistake had been in opening the door. With no hunk of wood and steel between them, she found herself victim to one of her own deadliest weapons; the infamous puppy-dog-pout. Just one glimpse of that expression on her mom’s face and she felt her resolve begin to crumble and she rolled her eyes, “…urgh, fine. Just stop it with that damn look.”

Slipping the chain off, Kim opened the door, but promptly turned her back on it and headed out of sight across the main living area; her way of conveying her displeasure at both the use of **that** expression and the fact that she was letting the woman in. She heard the sound of her mom step inside and close the front door behind her. _It’s fine, I can handle her. Besides, this isn’t her turf, its mine. She has no Alcatraz2000 with which to trap me and if needs be, I control the apartment’s defence systems._ That thought made her feel weird; the idea that she might want or need to use her apartment’s defence systems against her own mother. _Mom obviously decided she needed to use the ones at the Possible residence against me…_

“How was your day with your father?” her mom then asked, catching her slightly off guard, for Kim had assumed that any and all questions would have been focused around her back and what she’d done to it this time.

“It was good,” she replied curtly and then let out a sigh, _I shouldn’t let my feelings towards mom sour the memory of my day with dad._ “Ok, so we had a lot of fun,” she said with a grin, however, still did not turn around to face the woman.

“That’s great to hear,” her mom said enthusiastically, however, Kim did not fail to notice the undertone of regret.

 _Does she regret how things are between us now, or is that a more deep-seated regret in relation to the fact that she never had the same level of relationship with me as dad did? Or am I simply having this thought because I was thinking about it earlier today?_ Kim let out another sigh and finally turned to look at the woman. “Would you like a coffee, Mom?” she asked, her expected level of anger having thus far failed to materialise, thus compelling her to observe social etiquette.

“Please and thank you,” her mom answered, her expression betraying the fact that she had probably expected a struggle just to get past the front door.

“Have a seat and I’ll go make some,” she replied and then turned to head towards the kitchen. It was only after she had taken the first couple of steps that Kim realised the mistake she’d just made. _Shit! I forgot I was limping and I’m giving her a perfect view of it._ She could almost feel her mother’s gaze studying her movement and so she forced her strides to elongate and tried to suppress the limp. The result was that her back began to constantly twinge, but she stifled the resultant winces.

“Would you like some help?” her mom called out, just as Kim set foot inside the kitchen.

“No, I’m fine,” she replied and cursed internally. _Now she’s definitely going to bring up my back issue._ She almost burst out laughing at the bitter, dark irony of the situation. _I don’t want her looking at me because of what happened last time, but it’s because of what she did last time and my desire not to end up in that state again, that I’d be more inclined than I was then to let her take a look._ She boiled the kettle and made two mugs of coffee, which she brought over to the sofa, slightly surprised that her mom had not been sitting with her gaze still trained on her.

“Thank you, Kim,” her mom said upon taking the offered mug; she’d taken her lab-coat off and sat down in the armchair.

Kim did not fail to notice the backpack atop which the woman had sat her white coat, as she herself took up residence on the sofa. _Dad must have messaged her before she left for work, as she normally only takes a handbag with her, which wouldn’t fit all her medical equipment in it. If she thinks I’m letting her look at my back, she’s got another thing coming._

Her mother blew on her coffee and took a small sip before asking, “did you go to the astrophysics exhibit with your father?”

“Yeah,” Kim replied, the warmth in her tone coming from the reminder of how much fun she’d had and not because of any goodwill towards her mother. “We played mini-golf in the morning, went to Bueno Nacho for lunch; where he asked me to visit the exhibition with him. We then did the entire science centre, including coffee with the curator, before going out to Chez R _é_ my for dinner.”

“Wow, sounds like the two of you made quite the day of it,” her mom said softly.

 _There it is again, that undertone of regret… it isn’t just because the two of us are not currently on good terms; I think she genuinely regrets not having the same level of relationship with me that I have with dad._ Kim was unsure how she should feel about that if it turned out to be correct. She looked the woman up and down and sipped her coffee. _I guess I’ve never really given much thought to the fact that I never had a similar relationship with mom._ She cast the thought aside, _what does it matter, I’m hardly looking to build a wider bridge with her?_ “It was a lot of fun spending the day with dad,” she finally replied.

“I’m happy the two of you still enjoy doing things together,” her mom said with a smile, but Kim could sense an air of relief about the woman and her tone. And she suspected that it came from her having prayed for such a result; for her daughter to have enjoyed doing something ‘normal’. “You know, your father had been itching to take you to that astrophysics exhibit for weeks now.”

She laughed, “I can imagine. While dad tried to hide it, the curator happily told me all about his involvement with it. I think a lot of people are really going to enjoy it; especially kids.”

“I’ve never seen your father more nervous than the night he went out to dinner with the Curator. He was so worried that his ideas of keeping things fun and interactive would make him come across as unscientific.”

“According to the curator, he spent half the meal talking about me and the Little Rocket Boosters,” Kim said.

It was her mom’s turn to laugh, “so I heard.” The woman then met her gaze. “Your father is still very proud of that program and of how much you and the other kids enjoyed and learned from it. You know, I think it would mean the world to him if you were to come along to one of them.”

“I think I outgrew my sweater back in high school,” Kim said with a tentative chuckle.

“Not as one of the kids, Kim,” her mom replied and burst out laughing, “to help him out; as an adult. He mentioned it to me a few months ago, but I know he wouldn’t have wanted to ask, in case you found the idea too uncool or something like that.”

She felt slightly silly at having automatically cast herself in the role of a kid, granted that may have been down to how she had felt the last time she’d gone to the Little Rocket Boosters. While she’d wanted nothing more than to escape both it and the multiple sizes too small sweater she’d been forced to wear, the appearance of Monkey Fist and a trip into space, had helped her dad to both come to terms with the fact that she was now a teenager and become more comfortable with her hero activities. _Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I went to help dad out sometime, after all, I used to visit the children’s ward at the hospital with Ron and Rufus._ She cast her mind back to a thought she’d had earlier in the day, _finding ways to enjoy things as adults…_ then met her mom’s gaze. “If you let me know the dates of the upcoming ones, I’ll see if I can maybe surprise him.”

Kim could tell instantly that her response had again been exactly what her mom had been hoping for and could see the woman had visibly relaxed, like her tension level had been directly tied to her impression of her daughter’s state of mental wellbeing. “He’d be over the moon if you were to show up to help him out,” her mom replied.

 _And you’ll be happy that I’m doing something normal._ While she had the thought, she oddly felt no malice behind it. In fact, she felt a strange sort of respect towards her mother, even though she disagreed with what the woman was doing. _She martyred herself in order to help me and it seems that she’ll continue to do so, even if it means I’ll never talk to her again._

There were a few moments of awkward silence, in which they both busied themselves with drinking their coffee, before Kim finally said in her lukewarm tone, “so, how have you been?”

“I’ve been busy at work,” her mom answered. “You wouldn’t believe the number of surgeries I’ve had to do lately. Waiting lists are longer than ever and I just don’t have the staff or resources to cope with the need.”

On hearing her mother’s somewhat laboured words, Kim finally took a proper look at her and she could see the bags under the woman’s eyes and her tired features. _She must be exhausted, yet still chose to come over to see if I’m ok…_ The more she stared into her mom’s blue eyes, which lacked some of their normal brightness, the more she felt her annoyance towards the woman slip into appreciation. _Despite how I feel, dad’s right, mom does care deeply about me…_ “It often feels like the entire world’s been overworked ever since the Lorwardian invasion,” Kim replied sombrely and then without thinking added, “and whenever I’m not out there, I feel like I’m not playing my part in trying to help it recover,” _or at least I did before my mind got swamped with a hundred other things._

Her mom let out a deflated sigh, “I know the feeling all too well. I can be dead on my feet when leaving work, but if I pass an overcrowded ER, I can’t help but feel like I should go back in and help.”

This was the first time Kim had ever heard her mom talk about her work in such a downbeat manner and she did not know how to take it. _I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that people like mom, who work in hospitals or for the emergency services, are feeling the strain that the Lorwardian’s put on the planet after they decimated it. I guess that’s at least one thing we have in common._ “You’re not the only who gets tired and needs a rest sometimes, Mom,” she replied in a kind tone that conveyed a sense of kindredship. “I occasionally get tired too. And sometimes it feels like for every villain I send to jail, a new one crops up to take their place and an old one breaks out of jail.”

Her mom opened her mouth to say something, however, quickly took a drink of her coffee instead. After she’d swallowed, the woman finally said, “you seem a lot calmer than when I last saw you.”

“I am,” Kim replied plainly. “I worked through most of my anger issues and feel a lot better for it.”

“Including your anger towards Shego?” her mom asked, then quickly took a sip of her coffee.

 _She didn’t mean to say that and I’ll bet the question she swallowed with that previous mouthful of coffee had something to do with Shego too._ Kim quickly replayed her own words regarding supervillains back in her head. _Does she know that Shego has escaped? While GJ have not and will not make it public knowledge, mom could easily have got that information from Wade._ While she disliked that idea, there was a good chance her theory was correct, given that her mom had prior to talking with Wade behind her back. “I dealt with my Shego issues,” _or at least the ones that made me want to kill her,_ Kim answered nonchalantly, then decided to cut through the bullshit and go straight for the jugular, “you already know that she’s escaped from jail, don’t you?”

While, to her credit, her mom managed to maintain a calm, straight face, Kim could see in her eyes that the woman was torn over what to say. Caught between telling a lie to try and maintain the cordial conversation they were having, but risk getting caught out, or telling the truth and suffering the consequences. After a moment of awkward silence, her mom chose the latter, “yes.”

Finally, Kim felt the expected anger start to break through its restraints and a dark scowl formed on her face. “You spoke to Wade,” she said coldly, however, the appreciation for her mother’s concern, which had steadily grown since the start of the conversation, prevented the tidal wave of rage from crashing over her… for now at least.

“Yes,” her mother replied cautiously and then quickly averted her gaze.

The moment Kim observed the reaction, she knew there was more. “What did you do, Mom?” she asked, her voice sounding like it had been carved from ice. _She hasn’t…_

“Kim, please don’t get angry,” her mom pleaded in a placating tone. “Ever since you stormed out on me, I’ve been so worried about you. And I kept reading all these horrible reports about what you’d done to the supervillains you captured in the lead up to you catching Dr Lipsky and Shego…” the woman trailed off and despite the anger Kim now felt beginning to course through her, it had not managed to blind her to the point that she failed to notice the pain written all over her mother’s face. “I was so desperate to know that you were ok and you wouldn’t return any of my calls…”

“What did you do, Mom?” Kim asked again, slightly more forceful this time. However, she endeavoured to keep a lid on her anger. … _at least hear her out, Kim,_ she whispered to herself.

“…I sat and spoke with your friends and brothers this morning…”

“WHAT!” Kim exploded and suddenly found herself on her feet; fists clenched, “MOM!” Like it was a reprise of two weeks ago, anger flooded her and she felt like she should be dressed in her red mission outfit with her leather jacket and aviators on, rather than in pale blue pyjama vest and trousers. It was perhaps a testament to how poles apart her general mood had been compared with two weeks ago, that she yelled, “this is exactly the sort of shit I got angry at you for doing in the first place!” instead of demanding her mom leave there and then.

“Kim, I was desperate,” her mom cried out and Kim thought she could see tears in the corners of the woman’s eyes. “I was so worried about you and you wouldn’t answer my calls. In fact, I feel like it was a sheer fluke that you happened to be at home today when your father found himself with the day off and decided to pay you a visit.”

At the mention of her father, Kim’s eyes narrowed as her gaze bored into that of her mother’s; the river of anger feeling like it had been temporarily dammed until she received an answer to the following question, “does dad know that you were holding this little intervention today?”

Whether the truth or an attempt to preserve her daughter’s relationship with her dad, her mom quickly replied, “no. Your father decided last night, after he accidentally blew the roof of the lab, that he was going to try his luck and see if you were at home today.” The woman paused briefly before adding, “he doesn’t approve of me talking to your friends behind your back.”

“Geeze, I wonder why?” Kim fired back acridly, the anger river flowing once more now that the pathway that led towards her dad had been blocked off. “You had no right to ever talk to my friends behind my back, nor they you. If you’d wanted to know about my life, you should have tried talking to me!” Her nails had begun to dig into her palms, her knuckles had turned bone-white and her body almost shook with rage.

“Dammit, Kimmie, I did!” her mom cried and Kim could see that tears now definitely clung to the corners of her pain-filled blue eyes. “However, over the past eighteen months, after you recovered from your breakup with Ron and moved in here, you’ve talked to me less and less and nothing I say or do ever gets you to open up to me!”

On hearing the accusation, Kim finally snapped and lashed out viciously with a truth she had always teetered around the edge of acknowledging over the past two years, “that’s because whenever I’ve talked to you, you’ve tried to talk to the daughter you think you should have, not the daughter you actually have!”

That one simple sentence was enough to cause her mother to dissolve into tears. And for a moment, all Kim could do was stand and stare; mouth agape, at the destruction her words had wrought. _…what have I done…?_ It was a sight she had never witnessed before, her mom, such a strong woman whom she’d always admired, broken down amidst a sea of tears and by her own tongue no less. “Mom… I’m sorry,” she began, regret dousing the flames of her anger, “…I didn’t mean…” she couldn’t finish that sentence, as she knew it would only be a placating lie. As cold realisation set in, Kim slowly shrank back down to the sofa, _…I meant what I said…_

After a minute of deathly silence, bar the sound of her mom sobbing, the woman eventually regained enough composure to say, “don’t apologise, Kim.”

“Mom… I…” she began but stopped on realising she had no idea what to say to the woman. _What am I supposed to do? I’ve never seen mom like this before, let alone had to deal with her._ Eventually, after a few moments of wracking her brain, she finally said, in a soft, sincere voice, “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” _…at least I don’t think I did…_ she didn’t know the answer to that. Had she been that angry that the comment had been designed to cut her mother deeply, not just deliver the truth?

She watched her mom reach into her backpack and pull out a packet of tissues. Withdrawing one, the woman dried her eyes and then blew her nose into it. Finally, she replied, “I think that’s the first completely truthful thing you’ve said to me about how you feel in months.”

Kim opened her mouth to once more try and recant what she had said, “Mom… I…” but again found that she could not do it. Solemnly, she nodded her head in admission, “yeah, I think it is… I’m sorry, Mom.”

“Don’t apologise for how you feel, Kim,” her mom said, her voice unsteady and her eyes looking as though they might burst into tears again at any moment, “…especially when you’re right.”

Mouth falling agape once more, she could only watch as her mother’s head fell into her hands and she began to cry once more. Acting on instinct, rather than how she currently felt, not that she could say what that amounted to at present, Kim slid along the sofa, reached out across the divide between it and the armchair and pulled the woman into a hug. She felt her mom’s head bury itself into her shoulder and arms wrap themselves around her torso. “Why don’t you come sit beside me on the sofa, Mom?” she eventually said with a hint of reluctance, feeling more than a little weird to be the one out of the two of them doing the comforting.

Wordlessly she felt her mother’s head nod and so she shifted over while guiding the woman out of the armchair and onto the sofa beside her. “I’m sorry, Kimmie,” her mom finally said, although gave no indication what exactly she was apologising for.

Kim quickly located the packet of tissues and withdrew one. “Here,” she said and handed one over.

The woman gratefully took the tissue and started to dab her eyes again. “Thank you.”

Meeting her mom’s tearstained blue eyes with her own olive-greens, Kim felt a sense of somewhat unwanted rationality settle over her. Part of her wanted to still be angry at the woman, to vent all the relevant frustrations at her. But seeing her mom like this; the full extent of the pain she felt in regards to their relationship laid bare, stayed her tongue and allowed the rational part of her to take over. “I think we need to talk…” she said somewhat warily, feeling a sense of trepidation towards the potential can of worms that a conversation could open, “…and I think we need to be open and honest with one another.”

Her mother finished drying her eyes and nodded in agreement, “I think so too.” The woman then glanced at her watch. “It’s getting late. If you’d rather wait, we can do this tomorrow.”

“No,” Kim said firmly, sensing that both she and her mother were liable to close themselves off with regards to the matter if they waited, “I think we need to do this now.” She then glanced at the mugs on the coffee table, “and I think we both need something stronger than a cup of coffee. I’ve got a bottle of wine in the kitchen somewhere.”

Her mom sighed, “while as a doctor I shouldn’t advocate using alcohol to help steady oneself, I need a drink.”

Rising from the sofa, Kim wandered through to the kitchen and began rooting around in her cupboards. _Ok, deep breath, Kim,_ she sucked in a large mouthful of air and then let it out slowly, _ok, what the fuck just happened? One minute I’m angry with mom for holding a weird-ass intervention without me being there, the next I’m yelling at her that she’s refused to acknowledge the daughter she has for the past two years. Even I wasn’t fully aware that I felt that way. Then, if that wasn’t screwed up enough, she admits that I’m right, starts crying and I wind up comforting her. What the hell is going on and what am I supposed to do?_ She found the bottle of wine; an Argentinian Malbec that she couldn’t remember how she’d acquired, but no answers in the cupboard. This felt like entirely uncharted territory for them and she had no idea whether the conversation they were about to have would end amicably or in a screaming match. She found a pair of wine glasses and mind still at sea, made her way back to the sofa.

Kim set the glasses down on a pair of coasters, unscrewed the cap; had it been a cork she probably would have had to fetch her laser lipstick to take the top of the bottle, as she did not own a corkscrew and poured. There was etiquette when it came to serving wine, she’d learned that at dinner with her father earlier that evening, however, she neither knew it nor cared. And it seemed her mom was in no state to do so either, as she watched the woman pick up her glass and drink half the contents in a single mouthful.

She sat down and then asked awkwardly, “so, where do we start?” Taking a sip from her own glass, she screwed up her nose. _Ok, red wine is even more an acquired taste than the white I had at dinner and I definitely haven’t acquired it yet._

“With me recently feeling like the worst mother in the world when it comes to my daughter,” her mom replied in a voice that sounded like the echo of a ghostly whisper.

On hearing those words and sensing that her mom might break down into another flood of tears, Kim reached out and took hold of the woman’s hand. “What are you talking about? You were a great mom.”

Her mother drank the other half of her glass and then, with a shaky hand, picked up the bottle to refill it. She then took a breath, presumably to collect herself, before asking rhetorically, “was I, Kim?”

While she could have answered in the pause that followed, Kim chose to give her mom the space to explain.

“I made so many mistakes in regards to you when you were young and every time I tried to fix one, it feels like I just made another.”

“What are you talking about, Mom?” Kim asked in disbelief. _Where is this coming from? Bar when they first found out about me stopping supervillains, both mom and dad were great when I was growing up. I only started having problems with them when I decided not to go to college._

Wine glass clutched in a shaky grip, her mom apparently literally needing to have it on-hand, the woman let out a low sigh and began her explanation before the beginning, or at least before Kim’s beginning. “The first mistake I made in respect to you happened before you were even born. You have to understand, Kim, surgery is an exceptionally competitive field and at the time, still somewhat misogynistic. Pregnancy was considered tantamount to killing your own career, yet I was determined to have a successful career as a neurosurgeon **and** a family. In the lead up to your birth, I was already planning when I could return to work.”

“Why is that a bad thing?” Kim asked, genuinely not seeing an issue. “You were committed to your work, that’s all. I know I’d be desperate to get back to work if I’d just had a child,” _God, just having to stop working because I was pregnant would drive me nuts. Good thing I don’t have to worry about that happening… baring some mad-science accident,_ she shuddered at that thought.

“Because I chose my career over spending more time with my daughter. The whole thing only made worse by the fact that your father wasn’t always able to look after you when I went to work.” Her mom took a sip of her wine before continuing, “you probably won’t remember this, but it wasn’t until you were in kindergarden that your father and I were able to ensure that one of us was always there to pick you up from school and look after you at the weekends.”

Kim gave her mom a quizzical look and strained her memory to try and remember, as she asked, “who looked after me then?”

“Your nana Possible. You were regularly with her five days out of seven before you started pre-K, after which she was typically the one who picked you up,” her mom answered. “Although not without some disagreement between your father and I and herself.”

If she concentrated hard, Kim thought she could recall helping her nana paint the fence in her back yard. “I think I have a vague memory of being with Nana,” she said slowly, her eyes almost closing as she strained to remember more, _the fence was white… and it was important I did long, vertical strokes…_ “What did you disagree with her about?” she then asked, letting the memory go and opening her eyes.

Her mom let out a deflated sigh, “by the time you could walk, your nana was determined to start teaching you martial arts as soon as possible. She felt it was important for a young lady to know how to properly defend herself. But your father and I were insistent that she didn’t. After all, you were not even a year old when you took your first steps and as you know, learning martial arts can be quite dangerous.”

“Nana wanted to teach me martial arts?” she whispered incredulously, paused and then exclaimed, “wait a sec! Is that how I knew how to fight without ever having been taught?”

“While your father and I expressly forbid her from teaching you and made your nana swear that she would not, I suspect so,” her mom answered, a hint of bitterness lacing her tone. “While your nana is an upstanding woman and I have no doubt that she kept her word, she is also stubborn to the point that it would not surprise me if she found a way to get around that promise; without breaking it.”

Kim closed her eyes and called the memory to mind once more; it came much more easily this time. Absentmindedly, she raised her right arm in time with her younger self; a short stroke, almost felt her nana’s soft touch on her wrist as the woman moved her arm up and down inside her mind; her actual hand mimicking the now elongated motion. The scene shifted and all of a sudden, she found herself confronted with a stocky teenager; the first trouble she’d ever encountered while helping someone. Suddenly, without warning, the boy threw a punch at her and without thinking, her wrist came up in the same motion as when she had painted the fence and blocked it. Kim’s eyes snapped open; her real wrist having again copied the one from her memory. “Oh my god! Nana didn’t directly teach me martial arts, instead, she taught me muscle memory, so that if I ever got into trouble, I’d instinctively know how to defend myself!” This revelation about her abilities, for it was nothing short of that, finally solved a puzzle that she had struggled to understand since that first job that had landed her and Ron in hot water.

A mixture of infuriation and long-suffering resignation, with a sprinkling of amusement, covered her mother’s face. “That sly old battle-axe!” the woman said and shook her head; a small chuckle escaping from her mouth. “I knew from the day your father and I first saw that footage of you on the news, that your nana had found a way around her promise. Of course, neither your father nor I could prove it and we had far greater concerns that day.” While the event in question had happened over five years ago, Kim still received a raised eyebrow at the mention of it. The woman took a sip of her wine and then added, “however, what your nana may or may not have done is of little consequence now. My point is, I chose to let her look after you instead of being there myself and then after her, it was your father that picked you up from school or who looked after you at the weekends five or six days out of seven.”

When her mother finished taking, Kim took a moment to think about what she’d just said. This part she could remember, to the point that she’d even thought about it earlier that day while with her father. “I remember spending more time with dad than with you when I was growing up. But surely that wasn’t your fault.”

Her mom’s features formed into a grim expression. “It was my choice. I both wanted to further my career and ensure that I could give my family everything they could possibly want… except…”

When her mom choked up over her last words, Kim finished for her, “…except yourself. You ensured we had everything we could want, but at the cost of you not being around much.” She met the woman’s pain-stricken gaze with one of kindness. “You always made sure you were there for the important things and it didn’t last forever.”

Another sip of wine preceded her mom’s response, “I think I first became aware of my mistake when I stopped work in the lead up to your brothers' births. You see, I was able to pick you up from pre-K and spend time with you then, only you either wanted to go next door to play with Ron or were content to play by yourself. Even at that age you were already showing a great deal of independence and I didn’t want to rob you of that; plus I was heavily pregnant.” Her mom shook her head, “or maybe that was just the excuses I came up with because I didn’t want to face up to the truth that I knew so little about you and what you liked to do. I suppose I must have known deep down, as I was determined to be there for my second child. Only that didn’t quite work out…”

“Because you had twins,” Kim finished for her. “Twins naturally form closer bonds with each other than they do with anyone else and are rarely alone.” She caught her mom’s gaze again and said firmly, “it wasn’t your fault you never got closer to Jim and Tim than you did; that’s just what happens with twins.”

Her mom nodded, although Kim could tell it was with some reluctance. “I know. Your brothers have always had each other and because of their high intellect, are probably closer to one another than your average twins.” The pain in the woman’s eyes lessened slightly as she continued, “there isn’t much I regret when it comes to your brothers. While they are a pair of cheeky monkeys most of the time and have probably broken more ornaments and windows than everyone else in Middleton High combined, they still learned the important moral lessons your father and I taught you and I know their intellect will become a positive force in the world.” As soon as she finished, her mom had to dab her eyes with the corner of a tissue and Kim could see that the anguish had ratcheted up again. “It’s you I failed as a mother, Kim.”

“Mom…” Kim uttered, feeling somewhat stunned by the woman’s claim, “…you didn’t fail me as a mother.”

Her mom drained the last of her second glass of wine and set the empty vessel down atop the coaster. A single glance at her was enough to tell Kim that she was still stone-cold sober, so she picked up the bottle and refilled the woman’s glass.

“I did, Kimmie,” her mom then asserted. “I missed so much of your early years that by the time I had the chance to properly spend time with you, I never did. Surely you remember how awkward that mother’s day was for us? In the beginning, we were both desperate to avoid spending time with one another that I leapt at the chance to go into surgery and you a mission. And in the end, it was you, not me, who made the initial effort for us to spend the day together.”

Kim nodded in agreement, “I remember. Dad insisted that we spend the day together when neither of us could tell him when we had ever spent time together just you and me.”

“And that’s something I deeply regret, Kimmie,” her mom said and lowered her gaze to stare at the contents of her wine glass. “However, that’s not the biggest mistake I made when it came to you.”

“Even though we never had that close a relationship, you were still a great mom,” Kim insisted.

“Was I, Kimmie?” her mom said, reiterating the same rhetorical question from earlier.

“Yes…” she tried to assert, but then remembered her own stipulation that they needed to be honest with each other, “…at least up until the point I decided to forgo college and become a pro-hero.”

Her mother let out a deep sigh. “Try and put your personal feelings aside for a moment and look at things objectively from the point of view of a mother.” The woman paused to sip her wine and then finished in a sombre voice, “you had not long turned fifteen and I knowingly let you jet off around the world to foil the plans of evil supervillains.”

Kim’s immediate reaction would have been to claim that it had been no big deal, that she had been more than capable of keeping herself safe on her missions, however, she managed to stop herself voicing those words and instead tried to do as her mom had asked. And it did not take her long to conclude, “when you put it like that, it does sound a bit irresponsible. But doing those things is just part of who I am.”

“But it shouldn’t be, Kim,” her mother said resolutely. “Your personal feelings aside, it was downright madness of me to let you do all those things when you were barely fifteen. Surely even you can see that.”

Forcing herself to suppress her personal feelings, an exceptionally difficult thing to do, given that they were talking about such a major part of her life, Kim let out a low sigh. “Yeah, you’re right. It would be sheer insanity for any parent to allow their child to do the things you let me do.”

“Yet I let you do it anyway,” her mom said and let out a hollow laugh, “I even convinced your father that you would be safe on your missions.”

Kim gave the woman a quizzical look, “dad was against me doing my hero work?”

“Very much so. Despite the incredible proficiency you displayed that day of the parade, he still thought what you had been doing was far too dangerous for a then fourteen-year-old and wanted us to uphold the ban we’d imposed upon you.”

“But I always thought…” Kim began to say.

Her mom finished for her, “…that it was the other way around. No, I was the one who convinced him to allow you to go back to helping people. However, I think your father hoped that the stringent conditions we placed upon you would have been enough to force you to stop, but…”

“…but he forgot the family motto; anything is possible for a Possible,” Kim said with a light chuckle. “I always made it back in time for curfew, always had my homework done on time and maintained straight-A’s across the board. I even still had time to be cheer captain.” She then met her mother’s gaze. “So, if you think it was madness, why did you ever agree to lift the ban in the first place?”

Her mom lowered her gaze and took a sip of her wine before answering, “because when your father and I imposed that ban on you helping people, you went from being my happy and open daughter to miserable and closed off, with a large dollop of anger and resentment thrown in for good measure.”

Kim could recall the time well. Her parents had found out about one of the early supervillains she’d stopped via a short clip on the news that she had been unaware of having been shot. While the news channel did not know her identity, the glimpse of her it had shown had been more than enough for her parents to identify her. She’d arrived home to find them furious, a rare occurrence, been forced to sit and watch the clip and then explain herself, which had involved her telling them all the details of her early missions that had involved crime-fighting activities. Despite her protests that it was ‘no big’, she had been read the riot act in regards to how irresponsible she’d been, grounded for a month and banned from using her website for anything other than its original purpose of finding her babysitting jobs. Considering the entire thing completely unfair, she’d gone into a foul mood and refused to talk to either of her parents. _Heh, I guess you could say that was the first time hurricane Kimberly ravaged the Possible residence. I didn’t come out of that strop until after the incident at the parade; when mom and dad decided to let me continue my hero work._

After a drink of her wine, her mother then continued from where she had left off, “I’d never been very good at making you happy, Kimmie. That was always where your father excelled. And despite how dangerous it might have been and bearing in mind that you had not long lost Lisa, I could see at that point in time in your life, allowing you to go back to doing your missions was the only thing that would bring my happy daughter back. So, I threw out all common sense and convinced your father to allow you to continue with them. All because I wanted you to be happy…” her mom took a large gulp from her wine glass. “…I never even stopped to consider where that path might lead you.”

Kim sat and listened to the explanation, a shiver running up her spine when her mom said Lisa’s name, which caused her to take another drink of her own wine to try and mask the discomfort she felt at the mention of her former best girl. However, a scowl had formed on her face by the time the woman had finished. “You mean that I might choose to become a fulltime hero, rather than go to college,” she said darkly.

Her mom nodded solemnly, “yes. However, please believe me when I say that your decision not to go to college was only my main concern for the first six months.” The woman then met her gaze with those pain-stricken blue eyes that also displayed a deep-seated fear. “That night when you called me out of the blue and told me you needed my help changed everything, Kim. After I treated those horrific burnt claw wounds on your back and saw some of the other scars you had, I became terrified about what you were now facing on your missions…” her mom paused and looked to have choked back a sob. “Kim, I became so worried about your physical and mental wellbeing that all I could think about was trying to keep you safe… I suppose I refused to accept that you had changed in the hopes that reminding you of all the non-mission things you used to enjoy might convince you to change your life path.”

While her mom’s confession was damming and rightly made Kim feel more than a little pissed off, she also felt a sense of compassion for the woman’s plight. _I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for her to see me that night Shego clawed my back, or on any of the occasions when she’s seen me with an injury since. Not to mention how reckless I was that weekend when Shego beat me in that parking lot…_ she put that thought to one side as another came to her. “I suppose I didn’t make it easy for you, or anyone else for that matter, in that I didn’t realise just how much I’d changed until that night with Monique and Ron in that nightclub,” _until after I’d spent an evening with Shego._ “Everyone kept treating me like I was the same person I’d been in high school and I didn’t understand why I kept distancing myself from them until that night.”

“What finally caused you to realise?” her mom asked.

“I was sitting alone in the nightclub, all dolled up in an outfit and makeup that Monique had picked out for me and I felt awkward, self-conscious and just wanted to leave. Mo then dragged me up to dance, but it was something she said that stuck with me.”

“What was it?”

“She used the term ‘old Kim Possible’ in reference to how I apparently used to have mojo and rhythm but had lost it,” Kim replied. “I ended up in the bathroom and when I saw myself in the mirror, everything slotted into place inside my head. I felt like I was looking at myself from two years ago and that I was so far removed from that person. And every time I’d tried to be the old Kim Possible; the person everyone still expected me to be, I felt more awkward and more self-conscious.” She let out a light laugh as she finished, “I guess the clincher was that I’d been out the previous week with someone else and not felt like that in the slightest.”

Her mom met her gaze and then in a serious tone, said four simple words that made Kim feel like she’d just been hit by a bullet train, “was that someone Shego?”

Utterly stunned, Kim’s mouth fell open and the words, “how did you…” tumbled out before she could even take stock of the situation. However, she doubted it would have mattered, as the look in her mom’s eyes told her that the woman did not need a reply to know the answer.

“Kim, how could you have been so…” her mom exclaimed but stopped herself before uttering a word that had probably been either careless, irresponsible or crazy. The woman brought a hand up to her forehead, shook her head and sighed. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

Realising there was no point in trying to deny it; her mom had somehow known the answer before asking the question and deciding that not explaining it would likely only create another barrier between them, Kim launched into the story. “We met purely by accident the Friday night before I went out with Monique. I was in a place called Spritzers; sitting at the bar and having a drink, when Shego walks in with the same intention.”

“Shego just walked into a bar to have a drink?” her mom asked incredulously.

“Yeah, it turns out that supervillains have normal lives too and that even someone like Shego, with her green skin, can typically go out in public without anyone bothering her.”

“Because no one expects to see supervillains doing normal things, their brains don’t allow them to see them for who they really are when they encounter them doing just that,” her mom said with a light chuckle and Kim was glad she wouldn’t have to try and explain the whole perception thing.

“Pretty much. Anyway, she came up to me at the bar and once I realised she wasn’t there to cause trouble, she bought me a vodka martini and practically dared me to drink it.”

“And you couldn’t resist the challenge,” her mom said with a slight shake of her head, her lips forming into a longsuffering smile.

Kim let out a forced laugh and cringed slightly, “you know me, always up for a challenge. Anyway, we drank the martinis, traded sassy comments, then decided to sit and talk while we had a couple of drinks and something to eat.” She couldn’t help but smile at the memory of that first night with Shego in Spritzers and what had happened when they’d left the bar. “Afterwards, we went to the Middleton High playing fields to trade a couple of punches.”

Her mother raised one eyebrow at that comment and said cynically, “a couple of punches, Kimmie?”

She couldn’t help but laugh, “ok, so we had a good, long fight; the first we’d had in ages, which saw us reach full pelt by the end. We had to call it a draw as we were both beat.”

“I suppose that explains some of the other bumps and bruises I found on you when I examined you the following weekend,” her mom concluded and then shook her head in a manner that appeared to be dismayed resignation. “I take it this all happened because of how you were struggling to connect with everyone else in your life and still missed the friend you had in Miss Go?”

She nodded and replied with a hint of longing, “yeah. I’d been sitting moping and feeling sorry for myself for about an hour and then Shego showed up and I instantly snapped out of it. Before I knew it, I was actually enjoying myself and since she seemed happy for us to drink and talk, I didn’t see the harm in it… I guess I just wanted one more evening with Miss Go.” She forced herself to take a drink of her wine and when her mom did not say anything, quickly said, “you didn’t just come up with this idea tonight, did you? You sound like you’ve thought about it for a while, hence why you looked so certain you were right before I even answered. But I don’t understand why you would even have considered me having spent an evening with Shego in the first place.”

“I promise I’ll explain how I came to that conclusion once you finish telling me about what happened between you and Shego,” her mom replied.

“I just did; we drank, we talked, we went to the Middleton High playing fields and knocked lumps out of one another for half an hour or so,” Kim answered, without any intention to lie.

“Kimmie,” her mom said and looked pointedly at her, “I thought you said we should be honest with each other? Asking you meeting Shego on that occasion was a shot in the dark and finding out that you spent time with her that night has already convinced me that you met up with her again two weeks later.”

“Oh,” Kim exclaimed and let out a light laugh, “I thought you were only referring to that night,” _ok, how the hell does she know that I met up with Shego a second time **and** when it happened? _

Her mother must have read the look of sheer astonishment on her face, for she quickly said, “I already promised I’d explain how I figured it all out after you finish telling me the whole story.”

Kim pouted slightly, but nevertheless continued, “Shego deliberately blew up a radio tower at that communications centre, so as to bring me down on top of Drakken an hour before I would have gotten there otherwise, all because we had both enjoyed the fight we’d had two weeks prior and she wanted to do it again.”

“So, that’s why the two of you looked like you were simply toying with one another for the first five to ten minutes of that fight.”

“How the hell…” she began to say, but quickly stopped herself on recalling that Drakken had been broadcasting to the entire world from the onset of their duel, “…I forgot, you watched HeroTV’s coverage of that fight to find out what injuries I might have sustained. Anyway, we fought for ages and it was just so much fun that I couldn’t help but think back to the fun we’d had two weeks prior…” she cringed slightly as she finished, “…I sort of asked her if she wanted to go for a drink afterwards and then kicked her over that railing before she had a chance to answer. Then Drakken got involved and, well, you know the rest.”

“She somehow managed to tell you that she’d go,” her mom stated plainly, her expression conveying that she didn’t need any answer to know what she assumed was the truth of the matter.

However, given that the truth her mom already believed to be gospel was incorrect, Kim chose to straighten it out for her, “no. We both decided off our own backs to take a chance and go to Spritzers in the hope that the other would show up. After Shego arrived, we did the same as two weeks prior; we ate, drank and talked.”

“However, it didn’t end amicably this time, did it?” her mom prompted.

Kim lowered her gaze and stared at the dark red liquid in her glass. “No, it didn’t,” she uttered, still feeling a hint of bitterness about how that evening had ended, even though she would hopefully have the opportunity to try and correct it in the not-too-distant future.

She then felt her mom reach out and take her free hand. Raising her gaze to look into those kind blue eyes, she listened to the woman say, “you asked her if the two of you could be friends and she wasn’t very nice when she told you no.”

No longer feeling surprised that her mom inexplicably already seemed to know everything that had happened between her and Shego, Kim simply nodded.

Her mom followed suit, squeezed her hand and said, “that’s why you were so angry with her the following day and what led to you chasing after her during the incident at the jazz bar.”

Kim sighed, “yeah. That fight with Monique, followed by you putting me under house arrest only ratcheted up how angry I felt, to the point that it consumed me and I left a trail of destruction in my wake as I sought Shego out to get revenge.” She purposefully left out the part pertaining to her denial about being a lesbian. _This whole talk is difficult enough as it is without adding the fact I’m gay to the mix. That conversation will have to wait until later… much later. Not to mention that I can’t give her any reason to suspect I had a hand in Shego’s escape, even if it means I have to lie to her._

“Was fighting her and sending her to jail enough to start de-escalating your anger?”

She nodded again, “yeah. We fought, we argued, I vented all my frustrations at her and I beat her down and put her on a plate for Global Justice to cart off to jail. By the time I got home, my anger had started to subside and I decided to take some time off to deal with my issues.” Kim gave her mom a broad smile, “I’m all better now. And you’ll be happy to know that I did the sensible thing today and walked home from my morning jog the moment I felt my back hurt and decided against going out on a mission before dad showed up.”

A relieved expression had formed on her mom’s face by the time Kim had finished talking. “It’s good to hear you say that, Kimmie. And I’m so glad you are feeling better. You have no idea how much of a weight off my mind it is just to know that and even more so to be hearing it from you directly.”

 _I can’t deny that she really does care about me and that it’s been a case of her doing the wrong things for the right reasons. But can I forgive her…?_ She elected not to attempt to answer that question yet, for they were not done. “It’s your turn, Mom. How did you figure out that I’d spent time with Shego that didn’t involve me foiling a plot to take over the world?”

Her mom took a sip of her wine and Kim could just see a faint smile begin to form on the woman’s lips. “While I probably should have noticed something was amiss between how your fight with Shego at the communications centre ended and your disposition towards her the following day, I was far too concerned about your injuries to pay attention to it. However, you gave me the biggest piece of evidence the following night.”

“What?” Kim said in confusion, trying to wrack her brain for anything she might have said over that weekend that could have hinted at what had happened between herself and Shego.

“There’s no point searching your brain for it, Kimmie, as you were not even aware of doing it at the time,” her mom replied, clearly having read Kim’s current thought process from her facial expression. “It happened while you were feverish and I was trying to cool you down. You uttered the words, ‘but I really do want us to be friends,’ quickly followed by Shego’s name.”

Kim’s mouth fell open in horror but knew she could not blame either herself or her mother for what had been pure happenstance.

“While I ignored it at the time, as I was struggling to get you cooled down and worried that I might have to take you to the hospital, after you’d injured all those villains while apprehending them on your path to Shego, I found myself sitting with the newspapers and trying to figure out what had driven you to become so angry.” Her mom then finished the last of her wine, set the glass down on the coaster and slid it beyond her reach, a clear indication that she felt she’d had enough. And given that enough had been just over half the bottle in such a short space of time, Kim agreed. “That’s when I started thinking about that comment you had made in your delirium. I thought back to the weekend you came over and found that something was nagging at me about why you were angry. I then re-watched your fight with Shego and found I could not marry up how your disposition had been by the end of that fight with how angry you had become the following day. Eventually, the only logical conclusion I could draw was that the two of you had encountered one another after the fight and that’s where those words you had spoken had come from.”

All Kim could do was shake her head and applaud what had been some fine deduction on her mother’s part. “You know, you would have made a great detective if you hadn’t gone into brain surgery.”

Her mom averted her gaze and then said in a deflated voice, “since you were honest with me, I need to be honest with you. Before today, the idea that you had socialised with Shego was only a wild theory and I’d hoped to debunk it. Instead, all I did was convince myself that I was right… I asked your friends and brothers for their opinion on it… I’m so sorry for going behind your back, Kim.”

On hearing the admission, Kim knew she should be furious, that she should be on her feet; fists clenched and yelling at her mom for invading her privacy and to get the hell out of her apartment, except she found herself remaining in her seat; mouth closed. _This is the most open and honest mom and I have been with one another for over two years. Yes, she’s done things that I despise, but at the same time, I’ve done things that have hurt her too, that much is clear._ She then heard her father’s voice from earlier in the day say inside her head, _“_ _look at every situation objectively and then chose what you think is the right course of action, even if it’s not the easiest or most popular one.”_ The easy choice was obvious and oh so tempting; allow her anger to take over, throw her mother out and sever ties with her completely. She’d then have one less problem to deal with. _When do I ever do things the easy way? Not to mention how horrible that situation would be for dad and we’ve only just properly started to connect as adults… what the hell do I do?_

“Kimmie,” her mom said softly and with a light touch on her hand.

Kim met the woman’s gaze and could see once more the pain laced with fear… feat that her daughter was about to refuse to talk to her ever again.

“Kimmie… I completely understand if you are angry with me and never want to talk to me again…” tears filled her mom’s eyes again, but the woman did not look turn away, “…just know that I love you more than anything.”

When her mom began to turn away in what she suspected would quickly become her leaving the apartment, Kim found herself with a split-second decision to make. Acting on instinct over emotion, she reached out and caught the woman by the shoulder. “Mom, wait, don’t go.”

Her mother froze and Kim reached out with her other hand and turned her head around so that blue eyes met olive-greens. “Look, I’m not going to say that I’m not still angry with you in regards to what you did to me when you put me under house arrest or the fact you’ve been talking to my friends about me behind my back.”

“Kim… I…” her mom began, but she quickly cut her off.

“Mom, just listen for a moment,” Kim said firmly, as though she were the parent in this situation. “Yes, I’m still angry with you, but I also know that I hurt you too and caused you a lot of worry,” she let out a low breath that turned into a sigh. “It would be easy for me to yell at you, throw you out and then refuse to speak to you again,” she then took her mom’s hand and squeezed it, “but it wouldn’t be the right thing to do.” Kim paused for a moment to allow her words to settle in, waited for the fear in her mother’s eyes to start receding and then finished, “we’re both to blame for the fact we never had a closer relationship when I was growing up and the gap between us has only widened since I chose to become a pro-hero. And if we don’t choose to do something about it now, our relationship might as well be dead.”

Her mother nodded and before Kim knew what was happening, found herself pulled into a hug. “Thank you, Kimmie,” the woman whispered softly in her ear. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

Mother and daughter remained within each other’s embrace for a full minute before mutually parting. Kim found her mom another tissue and only then realised that tears stained her own cheeks, so took one for herself too. After they had dried their eyes, she took up control of the conversation once more. “I’m not sure I’m ready to forgive you yet, but there are a few things I need to say first if we’re going to have any chance at salvaging a relationship.”

“I understand, Kim,” her mom said, then added, “I think there are a couple of things I need to say too.”

Kim took a deep breath, _ok, here goes nothing._ “First and most importantly, while you think the decisions you made in regards to me make you a bad mother, that’s not for you to decide. You and dad played a major role in me becoming the person I am and I like who I am and the life I have. So, it’s not for you to judge whether or not you were a good mom, that’s for me to decide. And I think you were a great mom up until I turned eighteen.”

“But not after that,” her mom said and lowered her gaze slightly. “I think I can accept that.”

“Good, because if we are going to have an adult relationship, I need you to accept who I am as an adult and stop trying to see me as the daughter you think I should be, had you not made the decisions you did when I was growing up.” She looked her mom straight in the eyes. “This is me, Mom,” she indicated herself with a wave of her hand, “I’m Kim Possible; pro-hero.”

Her mother gave her a smile; one she had not seen since her graduation day. “Yes, you are and I’m so proud of everything you have done for people; for the world and will no doubt continue to do. But I’m proudest that you know who you are; who you want to be and are happy with the decisions you have made, even the ones I’ve struggled with accepting.”

Kim could not help but feel a sense of gratitude and pride upon finally hearing those words of acceptance. That after two years, her mom was starting to understand who she was as an adult. “Thanks, Mom. It means a lot to hear you say that. However, I also need you to accept that I’m an adult and to respect the decisions I make. And if you have an issue or concern, you talk to me directly, not go behind my back to my friends,” she paused for a moment upon realising she would have to make a slight concession. “I promise I’ll listen to you if you promise to respect whatever decision I decide upon.”

“That sounds fair, Kimmie,” her mom agreed. The woman’s gaze then turned serious. “However, I would like you to agree to do two things for me.”

“Ok,” Kim said in a slightly wary tone, already suspecting she knew what her mom was about to ask.

“I understand and accept if you’re not ready to forgive me yet and so I’m not going to ask you to come over for dinner every week or to sit and talk to me over a coffee for an hour every week. However, I would worry a lot less about you if you could at least get in touch with me once a week to let me know that everything is alright. A quick two-minute phone call or even just a simple text; whatever you’re comfortable with, is all I’m asking.”

“Ok,” Kim agreed. “I’ll let you know how I am each week and I’ll even unblock you from the Kimmunicator, so you can send me a message to remind me in case I forget, given that I’ve got prior when it comes to disappearing for a week.” They both laughed and for a moment, the mood between them felt a little lighter. Only for Kim to turn it serious again when she sighed and said, “your second request is about my health, isn’t it?”

Her mother nodded, “yes,” then her eyes turned fearful again. “Kim, I can’t convey how scared I was for your wellbeing that night I treated those horrific burnt claw wounds on your back or when I had to pick you up after that fight with Shego, give you oxygen and then morphine in the middle of the night while I struggled to bring your temperature down…” the woman’s tone became pleading as she finished, “I can’t see you like that again, Kimmie… I just can’t…”

While she had already accepted that she’d caused her mother to worry over her physical wellbeing, it was only upon hearing the desperation in her voice that the full weight of the woman’s fear that something ‘untoward’ might happen to her on one of her missions was imparted onto her. _I promised mom this before, but I genuinely thought she was just being overprotective and so didn’t even think twice about breaking it. However, after how ill I got last time, I’m starting to see her point of view. Hell, I even decided not to go on a mission today because I didn’t want to risk a repeat of what happened a couple of weeks ago. Maybe if she sticks to her promises, it won’t be so bad to have her check me over when I get hurt._ Kim met the woman’s gaze, “ok, Mom. This time I promise that I’ll call you if I get hurt and let you come over to treat my injuries. And I promise that I won’t break it so long as you agree to uphold your promises to treat me like an adult and respect my decisions; even if you disagree with me.”

“I promise, Kimmie,” her mom said sincerely; with a hint of relief in her tone. “And if you continue to show the responsibility you’ve demonstrated today, I trust you to keep your word and that’ll make the world of difference to how much I worry about you.”

“I might still feel angry about you putting that damn Alcatraz2000 on me, but once it subsided enough for me to look at things rationally, I realised how badly I messed up when it came to handling my injuries,” Kim said, feeling far less aggrieved about making the admission than she would have earlier that night. _I genuinely feel like there’s a chance for us to have a proper relationship now. Heh, it’s funny how things can change if both parties can talk openly and honestly without flying off the handle. I guess my conversation with Ron should have already taught me that._

Kim watched her mom glance at her watch, before she said, “it’s well past midnight, Kimmie. I should probably go home.”

“Mom…” she hesitated a moment and perhaps because her mother had made the choice not to broach the subject of her back, she decided to do so herself, “…before you go… would you take a look at my back for me, just to make sure it’s nothing too serious.”

Her mother’s expression suggested that all the pain and tears had been worth it for this one moment, which perhaps signified the start of the re-building of the bridge that had been destroyed by hurricane Kimberly. “Of course, Kimmie. Just stand up, turn around and pull up your vest.”

Kim did as instructed; also lowering her trousers enough so that all of her lower back was on display. She heard her mom cross the short distance between them and then felt unusually cold fingers begin to prod at the offending area; causing her to wince.

“Well, there’s definitely a lot of bruising, but unless you’re hiding a lot of pain, it’s nothing too serious,” her mom said. “I’ve got some painkillers I can give you and I’d advise taking tomorrow off too. At the rate you heal, if it’s not sore on Saturday morning after you’ve exercised, you should be fine to go back to work, just remember to be careful. Did you injure anything else?”

“My ankles got a little burned because of some electrified wire, but they don’t hurt,” Kim replied truthfully, finding it both refreshing and strange to be openly telling her mom about her injuries.

“Can I take a look?” her mom said, asking instead of insisting.

Kim straightened up, lowered her vest and pulled up the legs of her trousers. “They aren’t that bad,” _only by virtue of the battle suit having such good insulation._

Her mom bent down, looked at the incomplete rings of mildly burnt skin and straightened up. “Agreed. They’ll heal fine if left alone, however, just be careful when you bathe as the hot water might irritate them and cause you some discomfort. Would it be ok if I took a quick listen to your heart, just as a precaution? Electrocution on any scale can cause damage to your heart.”

 _Maybe if she’d been like this when she’d examined me in the past, I would have been more inclined to let her._ She laughed internally. _I suppose mom would argue that if I’d been more responsible, she wouldn’t have had to force me into it._ “I feel fine, but if it’ll put your mind at ease, then go for it.”

“It really will,” her mom assured her and stooped down to fetch her stethoscope and a small orange pill bottle from her backpack. She set the latter down on the coffee table. “Here’s some more codeine, in case you need it and don’t hesitate to use it if you hurt yourself in future. However, if you’re in serious pain…”

“…give you a call,” she finished for her, as her mom popped her stethoscope in her ears and placed the open bell over her heart.

After only a minute, her mom smiled and removed the device from Kim’s chest. “Everything sounds fine, Kimmie, strong and steady as always.”

“Thanks, Mom,” she replied. _Ok, so she’s suggesting I take another day off work… Argh! Being sensible is no fun, but it’s better that than the alternative._ “Are you going to be able to drive home?”

Her mom, who had taken the intervening moment to pack away her stethoscope and put on her lab coat, replied, “I might have had half a bottle of wine, but trust me when I say I’m still quite sober.”

Kim looked her up and down. “I believe you, Mom. Let me show you out.”

“Thank you, Kimmie.”

With no feeling that her every move was being painstakingly monitored, she led her mother the short distance to the front door and opened it. The woman then reached out and Kim did not resist the hug.

“I think we needed this,” her mom said softly in her ear.

Kim laughed lightly, “it would have helped if we’d done it two years ago. However, better late than never.”

“I suppose you’re right,” her mom chuckled.

They separated and the woman headed for the stairs. “Thank you, Kim, for again doing what I couldn’t and having the strength to let go of your anger enough to talk to me. You truly are a remarkable person.”

“What can I say, I’m the girl that can do anything,” she said with a grin.

They exchanged a goodbye and Kim waited until her mom’s red hair was out of sight before closing the apartment door. She was ready to forgive her mom for what she had done, but they’d at least made a start on repairing their relationship. _We’re not back to where we were prior to the hurricane Kimberly disaster and nowhere near the relationship we had when I was in high school, but that’s ok. In fact, it’s better this way. Now we have a chance to build a new relationship between two adults._ For the third time in the space of a week, Kim found herself completely drained after having endured a gruelling showdown with three of the main contributors to her swirling mass of problems, which was definitely a lot smaller than it had been a week ago. _Heh, I might just manage to work through everything after all._ Grinning, she headed for her bedroom, via a stop off in the kitchen for a cold glass of water and the living room table for the bottle of codeine; swallowing two tablets with a mouthful of water.

Completely worn out, but oddly at peace, Kim climbed into bed. Reaching out to turn out her bedside lamp, she caught sight of her cell phone on the nightstand; the message alert light blinking. Absentmindedly, she picked it up, half expecting it to be some stupid junk text. Unlocking the device, she almost dropped it when she saw the name on the screen; Miss Go. _Oh, holy shit!_ Half in excitement; half in apprehension, she opened the message and read, _Saturday night, Spritzers; 8 pm._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, ok, I hope you guys enjoyed this mammoth update (half the size of a short flippin' novel, lol!)
> 
> I really enjoyed writing Kim and James in the first chapter, which came as somewhat of a surprise as I seem to always have an issue when it comes to writing dad characters. Which is one of the reasons that we don't really see him in season one! I also enjoyed the interactions between the two of them and how James had realised that Kim had changed and that the way he treats her has to change too. Kim also caught me off guard by trying to tell him that she is a lesbian, I genuinely did not see that one coming. Alas, she's not yet entirely comfortable with herself yet and so, unfortunately, a reminder of the conversation she had with him years ago was enough to erode her resolve. Hopefully, she has better luck next time she tries. 
> 
> Moving onto Shego and this was quite an interesting chapter to write. As always, Ru-Ru made me laugh, first with his tantrum and then with his Cheesus line. My apologies to anyone offended by such a blasphemous comment. We also got a few more hints at her past, a conversation with Bonnie that I didn't even think about until after I had started writing the first scene and then a very interesting conversation with Miss Go that I think highlights just how far the character has come since the start of the story. 
> 
> Ok, Kim and Ann... oh boy did I not see any of this coming. This chapter was supposed to simply have a frosty exchange between the two of them, followed by Kim getting Shego's message and then sitting and thinking about the two of them and the volcano lair incident; I didn't even get to write that second scene! I'd started the chapter one day and then found myself lying awake that night at 3am because I couldn't sleep. The scene then started to play in my head from where I'd left it and all of a sudden Kim got Ann to confess about having held the 'intervention', blew up at her and then the whole thing about Ann having 'tried to talk to the daughter she thinks she should have, rather than the one she actually has,' came out and the entire thing just went from there. When I next got back to writing the scene, I'd decided that Kim would throw Ann out after the confession about the intervention, but the two of them were determined to thrash the whole thing out there and then and so I had to let them. Oh and Ann threw in the curveball about Shego while I was writing and so that had to go in too. 
> 
> And yeah, I pulled a Mr Miyagi (Karate Kid) in order to explain the origin of Kim's martial arts ability. I'd been pondering the answer to that question for a while and I kept coming back to Nana Possible, but needed a way of explaining it that would keep with the shows cannon of Kim not knowing about her grandmother's abilities and why her grandmother never told her that she'd taught her after Kim had found out. And this just made perfect sense to me. 
> 
> I also think that it is important that, while they spoke for a long time and Kim is no longer angry at Ann, that she is not ready to forgive her just yet. What Ann did to her made her exceptionally angry and it just didn't make sense for her to forgive her after one conversation, despite how in-depth it was. Needless to say, Kim and Ann still have some way to go in order for them to forge a new relationship, but at least they've made a positive start. 
> 
> Ok, so after this update, I'm probably not going to have too much writing time over the next couple of weeks, given that it's Christmas next week. In that regards, I hope you don't mind if I take a mid-season break for the holidays and bring you the next update in the new year. In order to tide you over, I can tell you that it will be at least three chapters long, will definitely cover Kim and Shego's next meet-up in Spritzers and that the provisional chapter titles for three of the chapters are as follows: I know what you'll like in my wardrobe, Can we try it again? and Dance of the dawn. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for your support, it has been incredible over these past eight and a half months and I hope this story has given you all something to look forward to every couple of weeks in what has been a horrible year. 
> 
> Happy holidays and wishing you all the best for 2021  
> Niaxi


	63. S221(U9): Only a crack in this castle of glass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone and a belated happy new year to you all, it feels like forever since I last posted an update to this story. 
> 
> First off, a huge thank you to everyone who has left me a comment or some kudos since I posted the last update, I really appreciate the support. Secondly, my apologies that it is almost the end of January that this update is finally making it to you and that it consists of only two of the four chapters I promised last time out. Unfortunately, since the turn of the year, I have not had as much writing time as I would have liked and had issues with writing this update. However, I've decided that you guys have waited too long for an update as it is, so I'm posting the two chapters I have now, rather than making you all wait another 2-3 weeks for me to write all four.
> 
> Before I move onto this chapter, Celioxa, who did some wonderful drawings of Shego last year, has been busy and drawn some more amazing Kim and Shego artwork. In particular, she has done a fantastic drawing of Shego wearing her outfit from way back in chapter three: Set the fire to the first bar. So, please do check out her Twitter or Instagram pages (links below) and if you like her work, please leave her a like or a comment or follow her.
> 
> https://twitter.com/celioxa
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/celioxa_art/
> 
> Right, onto this update. I will say this upfront, this chapter was a ba***rd to write and the first one that I genuinely did not enjoy writing for this story. However, despite that, I think it turned out quite well in the end, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that. As for the chapter title, Only a crack in this castle of glass, it is taken from the Linkin Park song Castle of glass. I actually heard the song for the first time while in the car after finishing the chapter (it was untitled at the time) and both liked the song and thought that lyric was a perfect title for this chapter. However, I'll leave it to you guys to make what you will of the metaphor. 
> 
> So, without further delay from me, enjoy.

“Take a good look, Inmate.”

The dominating voice of Captain Brooks, which contained more than just a hint of satisfaction, rang in Kim’s ears, as she was forced to gaze out at the crowd of jeering inmates. Unable to stand the sight of so many villains that she herself had sent to prison laughing at her, she glanced up at the sharp features of the Captain, who held her by a fistful of her flaming-red hair. The woman’s thin lips held a slight curl to them and a pair of merciless grey eyes bored into her gentle olive-greens.

“P…P…Please, I don’t belong here!” she pleaded

Brooks responded by tightening her grip on Kim’s hair; twisting it around so that every strand caused a biting pain in her scalp and felt on the verge of being torn out.

“Ahhh!” she cried out; unable to stifle it.

The laughter from the baying crowd intensified. While they may have hated their tormentor, Kim knew they’d make the exception and wholeheartedly support the Captain’s humiliation of her; the one individual they despised more.

A cold, cruel laugh escaped from Brooks’ mouth. “Perhaps Inmate is the wrong name for you.” A brief flash of menace showed in those empty grey eyes. “Yes, I think Princess will suit you better.”

Kim’s eyes widened in horror and her mouth fell open. _No… how does she…_

“That’s what she calls you, isn’t it?” the Captain asked and Kim was too stunned to tell if the question had been rhetorical or not.

She quickly got her answer as the pain in her scalp intensified, “AHHH!”

“I asked you a question, Princess,” Brooks barked. “Is that not what she calls you; your green-skinned little friend?”

“She’s not… AHHH!” Kim yelled, hot tears now bursting from her eyes. She did not want to give in to the woman and in a normal situation, she could endure such pain. Except this was no normal situation. In here, Captain Brooks was dictatorial and she powerless. “YES!”

The tension in her hair vanished as the Captain threw her to the ground. Kim’s chest clattered against the icy concrete floor; winding her. She sucked in a ragged breath, but before she could even press her hands flat to try and push herself upright, she felt a heavy boot plant itself between her shoulder blades. “Ahhh!” she yelled again, the initial pressure enough to elicit sufficient pain.

“Listen well, Princess,” Brooks said sharply, her voice laced with contempt.

Like the foot had just doubled in weight, she felt it press further into her back and her yell turned into a scream, “AHHHH! PLEASE STOP!”

The captain paid no attention to her plea and continued, “you are the hero equivalent of a dirty police officer, Princess.”

“You’re wrong, I’m not…” the pressure kicked up another notch, “AHHHH!”

“And I despise…”

All of a sudden she felt the boot leave her back, but before she could even think to move...

“…dirty police officers!” Captain Brooks yelled, her voice containing more malice than she had ever heard before and the woman drove her boot into Kim’s back like she was stomping on a shovel.

Her own scream rang in Kim’s ears, as it was ripped from her lungs; taking all the air with it. Agony coursed through her like someone had just dropped an anvil on her and she was sure she felt multiple ribs break. Hot tears poured from her eyes and a crimson mist tinged her vision as the hollering inmates down below became a blur of orange.

“And don’t expect any sympathy or compassion from your cellmates, Princess,” Brooks declared.

Kim felt a hand seize a fistful of her hair once more as she was dragged away from the railing and towards her cell. Her vision cleared enough for her to see the figures of Bonnie and Shego, stood still as statues; the latter with a vacant expression on her face.

The hint of triumph returned to the Captain’s voice when she added, “I’ve already broken one and de-clawed the other.”

Without warning, Brooks threw Kim forward, causing her to clatter against the floor and with enough momentum that she skidded over the threshold of the cell. Body in agony, she managed to raise her gaze just enough to meet those cold, merciless eyes one last time.

“I’d say rot in hell, Princess, but I’m never letting you leave here, even to go there,” Brooks said, her tone as vicious as the slamming of the cell door that followed.

##

At the sound of the metal door crashing into the frame, Kim awoke with a start. Heart hammering, panting and dripping with sweat, her eyes darted around the room. She managed to take in a slow, steadying breath upon seeing the pale lavender walls of her bedroom, instead of the drab grey ones of the jail cell. _Just a nightmare…_ she rubbed the top of her head where her hair had been held in a vice-like grip moments earlier _…just a nightmare._ Except it wasn’t just a nightmare. For the past two nights, plus the morning after she had broken Shego out of prison, she’d had found herself waking up inside Cellblock C, only to be dragged out and displayed in front of a jeering crowd of her own bounties by a dominant and triumphant Captain Brooks. But tonight, it had intensified; with Brooks transitioning from humiliation to brutality. An indication that she was subconsciously feeling even more torn over her recent actions?

Kim glanced at her alarm clock; 5:45 am and promptly turned it off. Her mom had advised her to take today off too and given how open and honest they’d been with one another last night, coupled with her desire not to end up side-lining herself for another two weeks, she had no intention of going out on a mission. While she’d probably try exercising a little, or a lot, pain level dependant, she could do that at any time of the day, so had no intention of getting up in fifteen minutes time. _Ironically, at least as far as foiling take over the world schemes go, I’ve had almost two weeks off since busting Drakken and Shego. Heh, I bet Betty’s going ape-shit at the fact I’ve virtually been MIA for this long; doubly so given that Shego’s now free._ While she tried to inject a little bit of humour into the thought, it failed to lighten her mood, the Cellblock C Sirens dream having seriously rattled her. The nightmare occurring once, in the direct aftermath of the event and with the fear of almost getting caught still fresh in her mind, she would have brushed off. Twice, could have been considered an unfortunate coincidence and left at that. But three times in three sleeps since the event… that was worrying. 

Rolling over, Kim snuggled the thin summer duvet around her and closed her eyes. Only instead of sleep, her mind kept thinking back to the drab grey walls of the jail cell, the scratchy orange jumpsuit she’d been dressed in and the triumphant look on Captain Brooks face, as the woman held her by the hair and paraded her in front of the other inmates. _Urgh, this is getting stupid! So, I broke Shego out of jail, it’s hardly the crime of the century. It’s not like I stole a pyramid or the moon!_

 _“Shego’s a special case. While she might work as a sidekick, she is officially recognised by Global Justice as being more dangerous than any supervillain that is currently active.”_ Kim heard the words of Dr Director play from her memory as though the woman had just spat them at her with the same dark loathing she’d used when initially uttering them.

_…ok, so Betty might disagree with that sentiment. And I’ll bet that Captain Brooks would have me put in jail beside Shego if she knew I had broken her out and could prove it. But what have I actually done other than spare someone from inhumane treatment? The last time Shego got out of jail while Drakken was still inside, she went on vacation for weeks on end. In fact, when I eventually had to track her down, I found her getting a massage, not plotting to take over the world._

_“Like that is proof of what she might do this time!”_

Kim groaned internally upon hearing the voice of her younger self ring inside her head. _I didn’t ask for your opinion. Now leave me alone to sleep._

_“I’ll leave you alone once you fix this mess you’ve caused and send Shego back to jail, where she belongs.”_

_That’s not going to happen,_ Kim replied defiantly. _What they do to Shego in that place is inhumane. No one deserves to be treated like that._

Kimmie let out a mocking laugh that echoed around inside Kim’s head. _“So, are you going back to break Bonnie, Drakken and all the others out next week?”_

 _What?_ Kim said incredulously.

_“You heard me. Aren’t you the one who just said no one deserves to be treated like that?”_

Kim completely failed to notice the pitfall trap. _What does that have to do with anything?_

_“You met Captain Brooks. While no one else is likely getting injected with some serum GJ cooked up, do you honestly think they’re getting a better deal otherwise?”_

Her younger self’s words hit Kim like a freight train and she utterly failed to respond.

Unfortunately, Kimmie continued, _“so, are you going to admit that this is all about your selfish wants and nothing to do with your ethics? Or, now that you have a rough idea of what happened to Shego every time you sent her to jail in the past, do I need to pose the question, based on how she gets treated, would you ever have considered breaking her out back then? Because I already know the answer to that one.”_

Kim did not want to answer that question, as she knew the truth would be damming. Prior to graduating high school, she never would have dreamed about breaking Shego out of jail, even if she had the knowledge she did now. She might have raised the issue with Betty, advocated that the prisoners in the supervillain jail be treated like human beings, but ultimately, never taken the nuclear option and broken Shego out because of her personal ethics. _It was a different world back then; I was different,_ she finally replied, dodging actual admittance of the truth. _I saw everything as black and white, but the world isn’t like that, people aren’t like that... Shego is not like that._

 _Seriously, is that the best defence you’ve got; the world isn’t black and white?_ Kimmie said in contempt. _Wake up and smell the coffee, Kim, Shego is a **supervillain** and you’ve set her loose. Any crimes she commits between now and being sent back to jail are on your hands!_

Kim froze upon hearing that thought. Until now, she hadn’t even considered that fact. If her rival decided to go out on a crime spree of any variety, she herself would be responsible. _I never thought about that..._ she uttered in a shaky whisper.

 _Doy, Princess,_ Kimmie mocked. _How could you have failed to consider that before you foolishly broke her out of jail?_

 _...Because I was too focused on what I wanted from her..._ she finally admitted. After days of denying it, her younger self had finally found a way to tease the truth out of her. So focused on her own needs and trying to mask it behind issues of ethics, she had failed to grasp the wider ramifications of freeing Shego from jail.

 _Which is exactly why you need to put her back where she belongs,_ Kimmie insisted. _You know where she’ll be and when; 8 pm on Saturday at Spritzers. And because you broke her out in the first place, she won’t be expecting a fight. Go there, take her down and call GJ in to take her back to..._

 _No,_ Kim cut in firmly, _there is no way I’m deliberately sending her back to jail. Besides, if I did, she’d probably tell GJ who broke her out in the first place and I can’t take the chance that Betty might think her claim is worth investigating. I’m not exactly her best friend at the moment._

 _Then call Wade,_ Kimmie retorted sharply. _I’m pretty sure he could cook up something that will wipe her memory of the past few days. You knock her out, zap her and then hand her over to GJ. She wakes up in her jail cell without any idea that she’d ever left it._

 _No,_ Kim reiterated firmly. _Knowing what I know now, I can’t purposefully send her back to jail to suffer the torment they put her through._

_Ok, then answer this, what are you going to do next time Drakken tries to take over the world and you have to stop him?_

A look of confusion spread across her face, _what do you mean?_

Kimmie rolled her eyes in disdain. _“You just said you can’t purposefully send Shego back to jail, so what are you going to do next time you have to stop Drakken? Are you purposefully going to let her escape?_

The thought stunned Kim into silence. Even if she hadn’t broken Shego out of jail for her own selfish reasons, the knowledge she had acquired after the visit to the prison would still have raised this issue, as she genuinely had a vehement disgust at how Captain Brooks treated her rival. It seemed this was one situation where ignorance would have been bliss. She could have continued with that last shred of black and white mentality and been perfectly content. Only now... _There were times when I subconsciously let Shego and Drakken escape instead of taking them down and ensuring they were sent to jail,_ Kim finally said slowly. _I realised that during our last meet up in Spritzers, when Shego asked the question about had I ever purposefully let a villain escape. In those instances, I made excuses not to go after them because subconsciously I was aware that life got less interesting while they were in jail. So long as I foil Drakken’s plan, will it make a difference if I knowingly let them escape?_

For a brief moment, Kim felt content with that solution. So long as each time she saved the world from the mad scientist and his latest crazy scheme, everything would be fine. In fact, if she’d genuinely been bothered about ensuring Drakken and Shego remained behind bars, she could have rocked up to his lair whenever she felt like it and taken them down... and prior to her junior prom discovered that Shego had been holding back on her and gotten her ass kicked out the back door. She let out a small laugh at that thought, _my ego would have taken such a bruising if I’d tried to do that and discovered that I wasn’t actually a match for Shego._

Her amusement was short-lived, as Kimmie quickly returned her attention back to the matter at hand by delivering the sting in the tail, _“fair enough, you save the world and let them escape. But what if the police or GJ show up to apprehend them like they did at the volcano lair, are you going to intervene to ensure that Shego doesn’t get carted off to jail?”_

The memory of the GJ operatives surrounding Shego, roughly restraining her and then bodily throwing her into the back of the helicopter rose to the surface in Kim’s mind. She had been horrified at how her rival had been treated at the time and even felt an urge to help her, only now, with the knowledge of what was going to happen to the green-skinned woman, both those feelings were amplified and she could not be certain that if the same scenario was to play out again, that she would be able to stand idly by and watch it unfold. _I don’t know,_ Kim finally replied, her internal voice sounding shaky. _I’ll cross that bridge if I ever come to it._ This was by no stretch of the imagination an adequate response, except she could give no other, lest she want to open the can of worms that could throw her entire career as a hero into question.

 _“Prft,”_ Kimmie scoffed, _“fine, ignore that particular issue if you want and let’s focus on the barebones fact that you’re willing to let Shego waltz around and commit whatever crimes she pleases.”_ While her younger self’s tone had been scathing, it was nothing compared with that she used when she yelled at her with all the force of Mr Barkin booming in disbelief at someone’s sheer idiocy, _“by what bastardised logic can you think that’s ok?”_

_Because I don’t want her back in jail!_ Kim yelled inside her head, her fists having clenched and the right one pummelling the mattress in infuriation. She was seething now, teeth clenched as she took sharp breaths through them. She’d been putting off thinking about Shego since the volcano lair, but now the guilt she felt in regards to what she had done; personified inside her own head by the echo of her black and white younger self, was driving her true feelings to the surface. The seconds passed as Kim became wide-eyed; an expression of shock spreading across her face. _...I don’t want Shego to go back to prison..._ While deep down she might have been aware of this truth in some fashion, she had already accepted that life was less interesting with her rival behind bars, consciously saying it to herself was nothing short of astonishing. 

Kimmie then poked her with a metaphorical pointed stick, _“well, aren’t you being selfish all of a sudden.”_

 _So what if I am!_ Kim fired back, the floodgates having opened and all the feelings she’d been trying to suppress for months; the same ones that she had been brooding over in Spritzers that first night before Shego showed up and that were now intertwined with how her rival had made her feel, pouring forth. _After everything I’ve done for the world over the past five years, I’ve earned the right to be selfish this one time. Over the past two years, I lost my boyfriend and best friend, my best girl now hates me and I have zero other friends, as none of them get me._ A tear almost formed in the corner of each eye as she openly made that admission to herself. _Hell, since I had that fight with Monique, none of them have even bothered to ask me to go out with them, just so they can use my credentials to get served alcohol. They don’t care about me! Not to mention the relationship I had with both parents got laid to waste, put back together with sticky tape, then obliterated entirely. I’m only now just starting to build new relationships with them. Then there’s the fact that I now know that I’m gay and the emotional wringer that revelation put me through. So, if the only good thing I’ve got is a screwed up relationship with my rival, whereby we test ourselves against each other whenever Drakken tries to take over the world and on a rare occasion meet for drinks, then yeah, I’m going to be selfish and let the one person I actually connect with keep their freedom. If she decides to commit a crime, I’ll just have to make sure I’m there to stop her._

A look of derision formed on her younger self’s face; a perfect illustration of the fact that she herself was still torn over the whole Shego subject. _“You like her, don’t you?”_ Kimmie replied, almost accusingly.

 _Of course I like her,_ she shot back, in no way afraid of admitting that. _She’s the one person who actually gets me. Despite the fact she’d been my nemesis for nearly three years, when she was Miss Go, I became close friends with her after only two days and by the time she reverted to being Shego, I’d had a closer relationship with her than any other friend I’ve ever had, excluding Ron. And my friendship with him took years to get to that level... if it were at all possible, I’d love to be her friend._ That last part was uttered with a dollop of regret and sorrow. Ever since that chance encounter in Spritzers all those weeks ago, she’d been unable to re-bury the truth that she’d loved having the woman as a friend and would do almost anything to rekindle that relationship.

 _“Are you sure it isn’t more than that?”_ Kimmie spat scornfully. _“Or are you forgetting what happened back in Drakken’s volcano lair?”_

Kim’s mind fell silent for a moment upon being prompted to recall what had occurred that day. Ever since the event, she’d been suppressing and hiding from the memory of it at every opportunity; allowing other things, like coming to terms with her sexuality, the state of affairs between herself and Ron and impromptu visits from both parents yesterday, to occupy her attention. However, now those problems had been dealt with to a point that they were no longer looming over her like a bank of dark clouds that threatened to pour icy rainwater down upon her. Making this singular issue the one that demanded her attention. And given she would be seeing Shego tomorrow night, she had no choice but to try and come to some understanding of what had happened between them in the volcano lair and how she felt about it. _I remember,_ Kim replied, just as her mind flashed back to the incident.

It had been hot inside the volcano lair, but the air temperature had been nothing compared to the intensity of the green flames Shego had conjured up to separate them. And in her rage blinded state, Kim had been unable to see a way past them other than through them. Her rival had held her at bay while purposefully poking her in just the right way about her sexuality in order to trap her into a position where she could not refuse the challenge of kissing another woman. Only at no point during the brief pause her mind had taken to decide she would not walk away from the latest gauntlet that had been tossed at her feet, did she contemplate Shego stating that she do it right there and then with her. Naturally, she had refused point-blank, but after a few moments during which the woman had toyed with her, her rival had made it another challenge and so she could not have backed down.

Inside her memory, Kim’s gaze met with Shego’s piercing emerald eyes and saw them as clear as she would have had the raven-haired woman been lying in the bed beside her. While she could not speak for her rival, in her memory, it felt like they were drawn together. She recoiled at the recollection of Shego’s arm wrapping around her waist. _“So you don’t try to back out, Princess,”_ she heard the woman say and she could now smell the mint and eucalyptus from her shampoo… and she could recall a strange sense of security while within Shego’s embrace; her own hands hypnotically finding hips. Mind racing and everything on hyper-alert, Kim knew she had been a nervous wreck when their lips had first touched. And then it melted away, all her fears and worries about what it might mean for her if she carried out the act and her reservation at kissing Shego of all people, gone; replaced by desire and lust like she had never known.

So absorbed in the memory of their first kiss, Kim’s body forgot to breathe for a moment and so like both herself and Shego inside the volcano lair, ran out of air. She let out a loud gasp at the exact moment they had been forced to break off the kiss and gulped down a few mouthfuls of air. _Ok, so that was... intense,_ she did not know whether that thought pertained only to the memory or not. However, like in the memory, Kim wanted more… needed more and so without hesitation, dived back in. Bodies intertwined, she recalled the make-out session with Shego in as much detail as she could, the same feelings of desire and lust pouring over her as they had done two weeks ago. When the generators blew and ripped her body from Shego’s, she opened her eyes and knew one thing for certain; nothing had ever made her feel the way her rival had that day inside the volcano lair.

Burying her head in her hands and then shaking it, the thought, _shit!_ quickly formed in Kim’s mind. There was no way around it, no explanation to account for it, the cold hard fact of the matter was that Shego had awoken feelings inside her that neither Ron nor her vibrator, not even the last time she’d used it while thinking about the green-skinned woman, had ever been able to elicit from her. She tried to take a calming breath. _Ok, so Shego managed to arouse feelings inside me that I’d never felt before, there’s no point in me even trying to deny that. However, while the what is incontrovertible, the why is still very much up for debate… so, let’s try to figure that out._

Much to her surprise and slight embarrassment, given how long she had been trying to avoid the subject, the first answer she came up with was both obvious and could explain things perfectly; _given the fact that I’m gay and Shego was the first girl I ever kissed, it’s no wonder that it felt so good._

 _“Aren’t you forgetting someone?”_ Kimmie said derisively. Her younger self, who had remained quiet ever since kicking off the whole memory about the volcano lair, seemingly still looking for needles with which to stab her.

Kim paused for a moment; slightly confused before the penny finally dropped; _Lisa. Ok, so Shego was not my first kiss with another girl, despite what I said to her that day. However, I had no idea Lisa was about to kiss me and Mr Barkin interrupted it before I felt more than that tiny spark, which means it hardly provides a good comparison._

 _“True,”_ Kimmie replied; a rare agreement. _“However, that tiny spark was more than you got from a full-on make-out session with that boy Matt… more than you ever got with Ron.”_

 _Hey, I had plenty of sparks with Ron!_ Kim retorted defensively.

The image of her younger self looked pointedly at her, _“really?”_

Reluctantly, she shook her head. _Fine, you’re right, I never felt a genuine spark with Ron. I wanted to and at first, convinced myself that it would simply take time for us to properly move out of the friend zone. And given I’d suppressed the memory of that tiny spark with Lisa, I had no idea what I was supposed to feel and so started to delude myself that I’d felt something that, in reality, just wasn’t there… at least now I know why and someday I’ll be able to tell him and explain the real reason behind why things never worked out for us._ She then focused her attention on Kimmie, _however, that doesn’t help matters. Bar that brief moment with Lisa, I’ve got nothing to compare how kissing another girl would feel in comparison to kissing Shego._

She was left to ponder in silence, for Kimmie did not respond. Unfortunately, all thoughts pertaining to Shego kept coming back to one key point; _she’s the only person who truly understands me._ This thought was not new to her, in fact, she’d come to this realisation exactly one week after that first night they had shared in Spritzers. However, it had not held the same implication then that it did now. _…do I **like** Shego? _On having that thought the red warning lights started flashing and sirens blared inside her brain; as it went into full-on meltdown. While she’d had the thought before and forced it aside so she could focus on other things, when combined with the acceptance of the other admissions she’d slowly made regarding her rival over the past two months, those four words now held so much more weight and were too much for her to handle.

“No, no, no, no,” Kim uttered quickly as she leapt out of bed. _Shego’s my rival; my nemesis, I can’t possibly **like** her. _Before she even knew what was happening, she was in her wardrobe; pyjamas strewn across the floor in her wake and pulling on a pair of black joggers and a t-shirt. She’d managed to find and put on both socks and running shoes before she had the thought, _but Shego certainly likes me, at least enough to want to sleep with me once._ She left that thought back behind the closed doors of her wardrobe as she darted out of it, snatched a hair tie from the dresser on route to the hallway and had her hair tied back in a high ponytail by the time she reached the front door. All the while ignoring the protests from her lower back at having been forced to get out of bed at breakneck speed. Deactivating the apartment security, she hurried out, slamming the door shut on, _and if those generators hadn’t of blown up when they did, I think I would have had her out of that catsuit sooner rather than later…_ Kim did not hang around to wait for the elevator, instead, her feet hit the stairs and she thundered down them. She needed to get out; do something to distract her mind and the best way to do that, bar going out on a mission was training. Reaching the ground floor, she burst out of the apartment building, leaving behind the second half of her previous thought _…I don’t think I could have stopped myself and neither could Shego._

Kim had dealt with many problems over the past two weeks and felt better for it, however, it seemed that this one would not be felled so easily. No, this one was potentially so earth-shattering that she couldn’t even face it at the moment. For she already knew that the ramifications of it could be apocalyptic.

##

In a humid summer drizzle, Kim had run for several miles, pounding her feet harder into the tarmac every time her brain had strayed onto the forbidden subject of Shego. Had she not left in such a hurry, she would have taken her music player to try and help drown out the unwanted thoughts and some money so she could buy a drink when she had inevitable become thirsty. She’d been forced to cash in a favour just so she could get a few bottles of water. Her lower back had twinged on multiple occasions and she had been thankful for the distraction. Anything that took her mind away from her rival had been welcome that day.

When she had eventually become thoroughly soaked from a combination of sweat and the rain, she’d headed back home, taken a hot shower, grabbed a quick breakfast and put a new set of training gear on. Turning her CD player volume up loud, she’d played album after album as she’d worked out in the third bedroom, which she’d installed a wooden floor and a Wavemaster in, so she could practice her techniques. She’d pushed herself until the point that she’d nearly keeled over from exhaustion somewhere near late afternoon. She’d gone for a long soak in the tub afterwards, then slipped on her pyjamas and gone to her workroom to do some long-overdue work on her website. While not the most fun activity, it had required a good deal of concentration and so kept her mind away from Shego.

After dinner she’d snuggled up on the sofa with some apple sours and lemonade and a bucket of popcorn and watched both Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge; two of her favourite romantic tragedies. And for the first time, realised why she’d never seen why all the girls had fawned over the male leads; she had eyes only for the females. She’d gone to bed once the second one had finished.

Kim lay under the light summer duvet, eyes shut and willing herself to sleep. Except it was not happening. The room temperature was perfect, the bed recently laundered, the pyjamas fresh from her wardrobe and her pillows comfortable, yet sleep eluded her.

_“So, what are you going to do about Shego?”_

Kim groaned when the voice of her younger self slipped into her mind. _Nothing, now leave me alone._ She rolled over, as though she could turn her back on her own mind.

Needless to say, it didn’t work. _“Hmm, that could be problematic. Aren’t you supposed to be meeting her at Spritzers in less than twenty-four hours?”_

 _Shit!_ Kim cursed, having driven that particular thought from her brain throughout the course of the day. Prior to that morning, she’d been anticipating her next meeting with Shego, but with a slight undertone of apprehension. Now the anticipation had gone, the apprehension been ramped up and a new undertone of dread begun to set in. What on earth was she going to do?

 _“The option to take her down and send her green ass back to prison is still on the table,”_ Kimmie said, in the same optimistic tone that she knew all too well; the one she herself had often used on her parents when she was trying to convince one or the other to let her do something they’d already put the kybosh on.

 _That tone never worked on mom and dad, so isn’t going to work on me,_ Kim replied flatly. _I am **not** sending Shego back to jail. _

The image of Kimmie inside her mind, appropriately dressed in her old lavender pyjama trousers and vest with the green heart on them, huffed. _“Fine, you like her as a friend, you already admitted as much, so don’t even think about trying to deny that, is that all you like her as?”_

 _Of course that’s all I like her as!_ Kim replied quickly and far too firmly.

 _“Sure about that?”_ Kimmie mocked, her lips formed into a crooked smile that did not suit those soft features.

_Yes!_

An image formed in Kim’s mind of the inside of the Sloth and the dark highway that spread out before her. Hands on the wheel, she could see the white gloves and sleeves of her battle suit. _What the,_ she began to think, wondering why her mind was showing her a random memory of her driving at night. Only out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shego sitting in the passenger seat and starting to undress.

“Oh no! No, no, no!” Kim yelled and sat bolt upright, forcing the image from her mind. “I’m not going there.”

 _“Too, late, Princess,”_ Kimmie mocked. _“You already did go there. You sneaked more than just a little peek at her undressing.”_

Unable to stop herself, Kim saw Shego strip out of her orange jumpsuit, pull the white t-shirt over her head and then unhook the unflattering prison-issue bra; freeing her green breasts. _Oh, holy crap!_ She screwed up her eyes, but could not prevent herself from seeing the darker green skin of her rival’s nipples and she knew it was not simply her mind filling in a blank. _I was…_

 _“You were checking her out,”_ Kimmie said devilishly. _“Don’t try and deny it.”_

 _I wasn’t… I…_ she stammered, failing to come up with any reason for why she had been looking at Shego other than for the purpose of checking her out. _Just because I was checking her out, doesn’t mean that I **like** her, _Kim finally blurted out.

A sly smile formed on her younger self’s face, _“I never said it did. But it’s odd that you would immediately leap to that defence. Unless of course you already knew it was true.”_

 _It’s not true… it can’t be true,_ Kim protested, before yelling, _you’re enjoying this, aren’t you?_

 _“Why might I be enjoying you suffering because of your own illicit thoughts?”_ Kimmie said, in feigned contemplation. _“Maybe it’s because I **am**_ _you and **you** are clearly not happy with the decisions you have made and so are forcing yourself to suffer because of it. Now, do the right thing and put that villain back where she belongs. I guarantee you’ll sleep like a baby once you do.”_

 _No,_ Kim uttered, trying to sound resolute on her decision. _I’m not going to send Shego back to jail, end of story. So, instead of focusing on the one thing I’m **not** going to do, why don’t you try helping me figure out what I **am** going to do about her. Remember, you’re just some random part of my head that’s serving as my devil’s advocate. So, if I decide to focus on a different part of the Shego problem and not on sending her back to jail, you have to change track. _

Kimmie let out a high-pitched laugh that in no uncertain terms told her that the anthropomorphic personification of her younger self did not have to do any such thing, nevertheless, said, _“you’re the boss, Princess. So, why were you checking her out?”_

It came as somewhat of a relief to Kim that they’d returned to the subject that she’d been avoiding since six am. An indication of just how much worse going back to trudging through the minefield of how she felt in regards to the serious crime she’d committed was. _Ok,_ she breathed, _it was the first opportunity I’d had since discovering that I’m gay to look at another woman naked. That glance was purely for curiosity’s sake._

 _“Yeah, and I’m Dr Drakken and I’m going to, TAKE OVER THE WORLD!”_ Kimmie replied, her voice mimicking that of the mad scientist when she made the declaration for world domination.

The sheer ludicrousness of what her younger self had just said proved more than enough for Kim to concede the point. _Shego is a very…_ she paused, not quite knowing how to phrase her sentence in a way that wouldn’t immediately be misconstrued, _…a very beautiful woman. I don’t need to be gay to admit that._

_“You know a lot of people wouldn’t give her a second glance because of her green skin tone.”_

_That’s because most people are so fixated on this idea of beauty that the fashion industry shovels down their throats,_ Kim bit back defensively.

Kimmie snorted, _“like you’ve never bought into what the fashion industry tells you to. Or is that not an entire wardrobe full of designer clothing?”_

She sighed, y _eah, and how much of it do I actually wear? While I don’t think I own anything that isn’t a designer brand, if it’s not mission outfits, training gear or pyjamas, I rarely wear it. And even when I’m not wearing one of the above, how often is it anything other than jeans, t-shirt and hoodie?_

 _“I wasn’t going to say anything, but girl you have lost your fashion sense of late,”_ Kimmie pointed out with displeasure. 

_Let’s not go there,_ Kim uttered sombrely, deciding she didn’t want to open up yet another can of worms.

_“You’re still the boss, Princess. So, Shego’s beautiful now and you’re defending her skin tone. I can’t say I would have said that about her two years ago.”_

_Only because I never stopped to think about it. Again, even if I was genuinely straight, I can still appreciate the fact that she’s a beautiful woman._

_“But it’s more than that, isn’t it?”_ Kimmie probed.

 _Yes, no, maybe… I don’t know…_ Kim could feel the urge to shoot out of bed and bolt for another run, but this time managed to remain under the covers.

_“Shall I repeat the question?”_

_No,_ she breathed; trying to steady herself. _Shego is beautiful and made me feel something I’d never felt before when we made out… but she’s Shego! Even if I did **like** her, which I’m not saying I do, there could never be anything between us. _

_“So, it’s ok for the two of you to be friends, but not okay for there to either be benefits or for the two of you to be girlfriends.”_

_Having,_ she struggled to say the word, _benefits, with Shego or being her girlfriend is completely different from just being her friend. Besides, she didn’t even want to be my friend before…_

 _“…no, she just wanted to fuck you,”_ Kimmie cut in sharply. _“Don’t try peddling any crap about her not wanting something more with you, just because she turned you down on the friend front. Or do you need a little reminder?”_

Kim did not get the chance to reply before Shego’s words from their disastrous second night in Spritzers filled her mind, _“I thought you were someone who knew not to mess with fire unless you were serious about learning how to eat it.”_ While the metaphor on the night had boiled down to her rival thinking Kim and asked her out on a date, the euphemism had been clear; Shego had wanted to sleep with her. 

Kim shook her head. She’d hoped to simply brush that little fact under the rug, as it would have made the situation so much easier to handle. She could have taken the attitude that Shego would never want anything with her and left it at that; case closed. Only her rival had made her intentions clear enough for Kim to understand. _A **lot** has happened since that night… I’ve no idea where Shego even stands on the issue right now. In fact, she was the one who explicitly said that tomorrow is not supposed to be a date. _

_“That doesn’t mean you get to weasel your way out of figuring out how you feel.”_

_I don’t know how I feel,_ Kim cried out in frustration; flopping back to the mattress. _So much has happened so quickly since the volcano lair that I have no idea what to think. Especially given I just broke her out of prison. And why does it need to be something anyway? Can’t I just go out with her tomorrow, ask for her advice and have a good time?_

 _“Since when are things ever that easy between you and Shego?”_ Kimmie snorted. _“If you don’t go in there with you mind sorted and your stall properly laid out from the get-go, you’re going to end up with the exact same disaster as last time.”_

 _Or maybe that’s exactly why things went so horribly wrong last time,_ Kim countered. _We were both set in our own heads over what we wanted to happen and thought we were being perfectly clear on the subject. I’m with Shego on this one; it’s just drinks and a conversation, maybe some food. I’m not looking for anything else, so if something unsuspecting happens, it won’t scupper any ideas I have about the evening, as there won’t be any for it to scupper._

 _“Sounds to me like you’re going out on a mission without a plan,”_ Kimmie scoffed.

 _I work best when I’m improvising,_ Kim insisted. _I can’t even attempt to plan in advance how I’m going to handle Shego on a mission, so why should this be any different?_

Her younger self shook its non-existent head. _“If this blows up in a sea of green flames, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”_

 _It’s a good thing Shego doesn’t have her glow then,_ Kim shot back by way of a parting remark, however, it didn’t really matter. While she’d perhaps cheated her way out of the situation by somehow rationalising why she shouldn’t figure out how she felt, it had at least prevented Armageddon. And if that allowed her to sleep tonight and got her through until she was sitting in front of Shego in Spritzers, she’d take it. Rolling onto her side, Kim closed her eyes. She fell asleep within fifteen minutes. 


	64. S222(U9): I know what you'll like in my wardrobe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, the second chapter of two (yeah, I know I suck for not uploading four chapters, lol). The chapter title for this one is a slight alteration to the title of the Genesis song, I know what I like in your wardrobe, from their album Selling England by the pound. And it is in relation to Kim and Shego getting ready for their next non-date in Spritzers. Enjoy

“Once upon a time, in a big house out in a forest, lived a beautiful woman with green skin, raven hair and the ability to generate exceptionally hot green plasma from her hands. For a long time, the woman had lived alone and had been quite happy with that set of affairs. However, one day, while being forced to endure a boardgame marathon with her crazy boss and his equally crazy cohorts, a genetically spliced little naked-mole-shark stowed away inside her jacket.” Shego stood with a towel wrapped around her and stared pointedly at Ru-Ru as she spoke.

The naked-mole-shark looked back up at her in confusion, “huh?”

“Against her better judgement, the beautiful woman with the supernatural superpower from space, decided to let the sneaky little shit stay with her,” she continued. An evil smile then formed on her face. “However, that’s where the fairy tale ends for him.”

Ru-Ru, who was stood on the sofa amidst a sea of cheese balls and onion rings that he had stomped all over in a fit of rage when the satellite signal had inexplicably cut off in the middle of World of Cheese, gulped loudly.

“Because if he ever crushes savoury snacks into my sofa and cushions again,” Shego ignited her plasma around her raised right hand, “the beautiful woman is going to barbecue him!” She threw him a packet of cleaning wipes. “Now either you clean that mess up and behave, or I’ll shove you under the seat of the Blackbird and leave you in there all night while I’m out with Kimmie, understand?”

The naked-mole-shark looked at her sourly but elected to withdraw a wipe from the packet, rather than test her resolve on the matter. “Rah-rah-rah,” he grumbled as he began to wipe down the leather.

“Now, I’m away to get changed and that sofa better be spotless by the time I come back down.”

 _And who said parenting was difficult,_ Shego thought in amusement as she left the living room to head upstairs to finish getting ready for the evening. She’d already had a nice long soak in the tub and shaved her legs and bikini line, however, the sound of Ru-Ru’s loud cursing had caused her to pause in the middle of her preparations and head downstairs to see what the hell was going on. While the mess she’d found had naturally annoyed her, she’d had such a chilled out few days, enjoying all the little freedoms that she had been robbed of while in prison, that she’d chosen not to get angry, simply lay down the law. Now it was time to get serious. She would be meeting Kimmie in an three hours time and not only did she plan to enjoy herself, but she also had a job to do; guiding her rival through the next stage of her sexual discovery. Not to mention that she had a personal stake in that whole process. After a lot of soul searching, she’d decided that she genuinely did want to have some more ‘intimate’ fun with the hero, at least once. However, barring some sort of miraculous advancement in Kimmie’s state of mind, that would not be happening tonight and she had no intention of trying to force the issue, especially not after how their last night out had ended. In fact, she might not even mention the idea as a possibility; simply show the girl what she could have a taste of once she was ready to take a bite.

Climbing the stairs, Shego headed into her bedroom and went to her stereo; ironically the same make and model as the one she’d seen in Kimmie’s apartment earlier in the week, only she’d opted for the green speaker grills as opposed to the blue ones. From the small CD rack that contained albums she liked to listen to when getting ready to go out or when relaxing in the tub; her main CD collection being in the living room, she withdrew the Eagles aptly titled One of These Nights and popped it on. The notes of the opening bass guitar riff reached her ears as she dropped her towel onto the floor and headed for her wardrobe. _Time to get to work._

##

Thirty miles away, in her Middleton penthouse apartment, Kim Possible too was in the process of getting ready for her latest night out with her rival. From the main living area, the sound of Linkin Park’s Minutes to Midnight album could be heard blasting out of the speakers. She had already showered and was now sat at her dressing table painstakingly drying her long flaming-red hair. Compared to the previous day, her mind had been better behaved and so she’d been able to work through her normal morning routine without issue, complemented by the fact that she’d not had the Cellblock C Sirens dream again. Given that she had plans that night, she’d headed out on a simple blue milk run mission, which had been posted on her website from someone in Lowerton that had clearly failed to notice the very clear notices that said her services were no longer free. Ones like that cropped up from time to time and she normally just rejected them out of hand. However, she had taken it for something to do; that something being tracking down a stolen vase for a private collector and neglected to mention that her services cost more than the vase had been worth; doing the job for free. Either way, it had kept her from vegetating on the sofa in sheer boredom and got her back home for four pm, after which she’d headed straight for the bathroom to start arduous process of getting ready for a night out.

Kim ran the towel through her hair one last time, tossed it to the floor and picked up her hairbrush. _Ok, so I’m not going into tonight with any plans, hopes or expectations that this is going to be or lead to anything more than a few drinks and a chat… maybe make that me asking Shego a lot of questions and her hopefully having some answers for me._

_“It’s not too late to…”_

_Shut up!_ Kim spat viciously at the first sign that her brain might have been about to suggest she send her rival back to jail. And the day had been going so well too. _I already decided last night that I was **not** going to do that, so you can just shut up about it. _

_“You didn’t even let me finish,”_ Kimmie said slyly. _“I was going to say it’s not too late to just call the whole thing off. Don’t blame me because you’ve got a guilty conscience.”_

 _Sure you were,_ Kim replied sourly, pulling her hairbrush roughly through a knot in her hair. _I don’t have a guilty conscience **and** I am going to meet Shego tonight. So, you can shut up and crawl back into my memory where you belong. _

_“When this goes south, you’ll wish you’d listened to me,”_ Kimmie said and inside Kim’s head, her younger self turned her back on her and disappeared into the dark recesses of her memory.

 _It **won’t** go south, _she said firmly, feeling her resolve strengthen around that notion. However, perhaps as a parting shot from Kimmie to test it, the memory of her hot make-out session with Shego inside the volcano lair surfaced in her mind and she could not help but feel an echo of the lust and desire that had flooded her that day. _Shit. Regardless of how I might feel, that still happened between us and we haven’t talked about it yet._ In order to prevent another meltdown, Kim quickly shoved the thought into a closet inside her mind and locked the door. _If Shego doesn’t mention it, I won’t either and we can simply accept it for what it was; her proving to me that I’m gay. Now, what the hell am I going to wear?_

##

 _Ok, Kimmie, what is going to wow you?_ Shego thought as she flicked through articles of clothing in her wardrobe. She already had an emerald satin and black lace thong on and the matching bra to hand should it be required. However, when she hit upon a black dress and pulled it off the rail, all thoughts of wearing a bra at all went out the window. Smiling to herself she slipped it on. The dress barely came down to bellow her backside, showing off her powerful legs and leaving little to the imagination. Further up, it hugged her midriff and then pushed her breasts up; displaying ample cleavage and stopped before getting anywhere near her shoulders. She then found a pair of thigh-high black boots and put them on.

Moving to stand in front of the mirror, Shego looked herself up and down. “How do I look, Kimmie?” she asked her reflection with a wicked smile.

 _“Like you want me to lick your boots and then bend over so you can fuck me,”_ she heard the voice of the hero say nervously inside her head.

Shego stared at her reflection again. _Yeah, this definitely says ‘bend over so I can fuck your brains out’. You’ll probably take one look at me dressed like this and run for it._ She began undressing. _Back to the drawing board._

##

Meanwhile, back in Middleton and struggling to suppress the memory of her make-out session with Shego in the volcano lair, Kim hauled a pair of baggy grey cargo pants from the rail and pulled them on atop a pair of white cotton full briefs. She then found an oversized white t-shirt with a pale-yellow rectangle splashed across the front of it and hauled it over her head. Putting on a pair of black sports socks, she finished her outfit by slipping her feet into a pair of old but comfortable hiking boots.

“There, that wasn’t so hard,” she breathed in slight relief; as she wandered over to look at herself in the mirror. “What do you think, Shego? Comfortable, yet...”

_“Geeze, Princess, did the buffoon spill something on you and you had to borrow some of his clothes, as you look like a trash bag.”_

The scorn in her rival’s voice rang around inside Kim’s head and she took another look at herself in the mirror. _Holy crap, how could I have possibly thought I could go out and meet Shego wearing this? While this is definitely not a date tonight, Shego will still dress stylishly. I can’t let her see me looking like I borrowed my outfit from Ron. Try again, Possible._

##

The ‘fuck your brains out’ dress and boots now safely back in her wardrobe, Shego stood in her emerald and black thong and pulled on the matching bra, having quickly reasoned that anything in her wardrobe that would merit her not wearing it was just as likely to scare Kimmie off. _Right, sex dresses are out. How about something more casual this time?_ She found a pair of blue jeans and a fitted red t-shirt with black Japanese kanji on the front. Pulling on her latest outfit, she added white sports socks and a pair of short brown suede boots. When she’d finished zipping them up, she strolled over to the mirror once more. _Ok, so you definitely won’t run this time, right, Kimmie?_

_“Hey, Shego, nice to see you. Do you want to be my friend? Maybe we could ride motorbikes together?”_

_Urgh!_ Shego groaned on hearing her mind's view of how Kimmie might react upon seeing her. _That’s exactly what she’ll think if she sees me wearing this. I’ve gone from fucking to friendship. Get a grip, Shego, or you’re going to screw this up._

##

Kim unceremoniously tore off her ‘trash bag’ outfit and tossed it to the floor. _Come on, Possible, you used to be stylish and you’ve got an entire wardrobe full of this seasons clothes to play with, you can find something that works._ Veering away from the comfortable section of her wardrobe, she began to flick through some dresses that she’d picked up on her most recent visits to Paris and Milan a few months ago. Eventually, she settled on a short sleeveless red one with a low back and found a pair of sheer stockings that would still show off her legs, but do enough to mask her scars unless someone was purposefully staring at them close up. She then fetched the red heals she’d bought to pair with the dress from their box. It was a somewhat sad reminder of reality that she had to remove the tags from the dress before she slipped it on atop the stockings and a strapless black bra. The shoes squeezed her toes and immediately told her they would be for show only; she’d have to take a cab to Spritzers and back as there was no way she could walk that distance in them without blistering her feet, given she’d not broken them in yet. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she headed for the mirror.

 _You can’t say I look like a trash bag this time, Shego,_ Kim smiled, satisfied that she hadn’t lost her sense of style, simply misplaced it for a while.

An image of Shego licking her lips filled her mind, _“my-my, Princess. I think I’ll enjoy you with some fava beans and a nice chianti.”_

While she knew her rival would not try to dine on her liver, the idea that Shego might decide she wanted a taste of her aroused feelings of worry and Kim found her mind quickly split between whether she wanted that to happen or not. However, she was saved a battle of indecision and a meltdown inside her head when she turned to her right at caught a glimpse of her back; the scars on her left shoulder blade were on display. Before she could even think the word, _‘no’,_ Kim had already begun taking off the dress. _It’s too much for a place like Spritzers anyway,_ she tried to tell herself as she stripped back down to her birthday suit and went back to the rail to try again.

##

Shego was not having much luck. She’d tried the green and black skirt and top combo she’d worn at the Bermuda Triangle, but felt it too formal for Spritzers and less likely to turn Kimmie’s head, given that the hero had already had a good up close and personal view of her wearing it. She’d then gone back to trousers and a pair of tight leather ones that had slashes across the thighs. These had been matched with knee-high brown leather boots, a wine long-sleeved top with black chord across an open bosom. She’d tried the outfit with and without a brown cowgirl hat that she couldn’t recall acquiring, but while it said sexy, it seemed both too reserved for what she was aiming for and too similar to what Kimmie had seen her wear last time.

 _I want to wow her, but at the same time not scare her off. Come on, Shego, there’s got to be at least one outfit here that can do both._ She flicked through another couple of outfits without giving them more than a cursory glance before stopping. _This might work._ She pulled out a green long-sleeved top with a low neckline, which she paired with a short black skirt. She had to hunt in a drawer to find a pair of green and a pair of black holdups that matched in style, so she could take one from each. Dressing in outfit number five, she then found a pair of custom heels she’d had made; one green one black and put them on; each one matching the stocking on that leg. Finally, she found a green beret and a short, lightweight white jacket that had a black belt to complete the outfit.

Moving to the mirror once more, she took a good look at herself. “What do you think, Mademoiselle Possible?” she said in a strong French accent, the outfit evoking a Parisian sort of feel. She then laughed at how ridiculous she’d sounded.

 _“Wow, Shego, you look great,”_ she heard Kim say in her head.

 _Hmm, great but not amazing,_ Shego mused. _I’m getting warmer, but need to up the sex appeal a bit, show a bit more skin..._ a wide grin spread across her face and she rushed back to the rail. _I know exactly what I need._ Rooting around, she quickly found what she was looking for and instantly knew it would be perfect. _Oh, Kimmie, your eyes are going to pop when you see me in this._

##

A small pile of clothes was steadily mounting inside Kim’s wardrobe as she tried on and discarded more outfits. After the red dress disaster, she’d gone too far the other way and put on a pair of blue jeans and a green t-shirt. While it had been comfortable, Shego had both seen her wear this outfit before on their first night out and it clearly said, ‘let’s just be friends’. However, it had not been until after she had been stood in front of the mirror wearing a short red tartan skirt and black knee-high boots that she’d paired with a blue checked shirt, which she’d tied under her breasts to show off her midriff, that she’d realised what she was doing.

 _Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! Am I actually dressing because I want to impress her and indicate that I want… something with her?_ Another glance in the mirror confirmed that theory; she looked hot. _Ok, Kim, don’t panic, there is nothing wrong with dressing in an outfit that has sex appeal; you used to show your midriff off all the time… but there is when the person I’m meeting is Shego! Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap._

Kim started pacing back and forth inside her wardrobe as she wrestled out of the outfit and tossed its component parts onto the pile. _Making out with Shego felt good, I can’t deny that._ The brief memory played in her mind again and she felt the echo of lust and desire all over again… _scratch that, it felt amazing. But I can’t **like** Shego, can I? _Her brain almost went into meltdown when the simple answer came to her; yes, she could. Not only were they both gay, but she had admitted a while ago that she liked having the woman as a friend and she considered her to be beautiful. However, the real question should have been, was it right for her to like Shego?

Struggling not to simply run out of the apartment, which admittedly would have been rather embarrassing for her, given she was only wearing her underwear at present, Kim took a few deep breaths to try and cool her internal nuclear reactor. _If it was anyone else, or at least anyone who lived on the right side of the law, there wouldn’t be a problem. Yeah, I’d be scared as hell to ask her out and probably uncomfortable for a while until I got used to the idea of being with another woman, but I could do it…_ she paused for a moment, trying to separate her rival’s supervillainess status from the rest of her. Kim let out a deflated sigh, _if it wasn’t for the fact that she’s a supervillainess, I would have been friends with Shego a long time ago and now that I know I’m a lesbian, I’d ask her out the moment I felt comfortable enough to do so. But she **is** a supervillainess and I’m a hero. It’s probably bad enough that I still want to be friends with her, let alone even contemplate something more than that…_ _what the hell am I supposed to do?_

Kim threw her head into her hands and then shook it back and forth, as she struggled to lower the reactor temperature. After making the decision to not see tonight as anything more than a few drinks and a chat, she’d hoped to avoid any thoughts about her **liking** her rival. Unfortunately, it seemed she had no choice but to face up to the very real possibility that she did. _No, this is stupid. Everything else aside, Shego is still a supervillainess and I can’t possibly have any sort of relationship with her._ Alas, her attempt to put an end to the subject only brought about the thought, _last week I was convinced that I couldn’t break her out of jail and look how that one turned out… but this is different… isn’t it?_

On bringing up the subject of having broken Shego out of jail, a thought from yesterday morning’s argument with Kimmie filled her mind, _“so, if the only good thing I’ve got is a screwed up relationship with my rival, whereby we test ourselves against each other whenever Drakken tries to take over the world and on a rare occasion meet for drinks, then yeah, I’m going to be selfish and let the one person I actually connect with keep their freedom.”_ It was a sad but honest assessment of her life when it came to her relationships. Bar her parents, whom she’d only just started to rebuild relationships with, the scant other meaningful ones she’d had over the years had all gone to shit. Lisa, Ron, Monique, her relationship with all of them; three out of her lifetime total of five close friends had suffered significant, if not irreparable damage. The fourth friend on that short list was Wade, who had never been the sort of friend that she spent time with, hell she hadn’t even met him in person until a few years into their association. And finally, there was Shego, the one with whom she had the most complicated of relationships and who had only been her friend for a grand total of one week; back when she had been Miss Go. Yet like it or not, her rival understood her better than any of the others ever had done and somehow, despite recent events, was the one she had the best relationship with. Which begged the question, just how selfish could she be?

Kim let out a slow breath. _Ok, so I **might** **like** Shego, that doesn’t mean I should pursue it, so I should wear something casual that clearly says, ‘if you want to, let’s be friends’. _She moved towards her collection of baggy jeans. _…but I just know she’s going to make an effort when it comes to her wardrobe choice, we compete over everything after all and I really don’t want to look like a trash bag next to her._ She diverted herself away from the jeans and back to her collection of short dresses. _However, what if I give her the wrong impression and things go south like they did last time? I really don’t want to end up hating her again._ She paused, in the centre of her wardrobe, short and sexy dresses on the left, baggy and comfortable jeans on her right. Her eyes drifted between the two until she caught sight of something on the rail opposite her. She smiled, _now that I can work with,_ and headed straight down the centre.

##

Outfits selected, Kim and Shego picked out their accessories, applied their makeup and then stopped in front of their mirrors and had the exact same thought, _perfect._ They then headed to and out of their respective front doors. It had been five weeks since their disastrous non-date in Spritzers, now it was time to try it again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, short and sweet, I know. However, I will endeavour to get the next update to you guys asap. 
> 
> Like I said at the start, the first chapter of this update was really difficult for me to write and for multiple reasons that I will not go into. Suffice it to say, I started writing it on December 15th; the day after posting the last update and didn't get it finished until 24th of January! I then wrote the second chapter in only two days, so that is hopefully a sign that I am over some of the issues I had with the previous chapter. 
> 
> Anyway, I really liked the argument between Kim and Kimmie in the first chapter and the discoveries Kim made. She then managed to view the Shego issue from an angle that I hadn't thought about before I wrote the second chapter, which will hopefully be beneficial for her in the long run. And I couldn't resist doing a tiny Ru-Ru moment in chapter two, as I love that sneaky little sod. 
> 
> So, next time out we will finally get the long-awaited next social meeting between Kim and Shego in Can we try it again. And I must confess I've been itching to write this chapter for months, so am looking forward to it just as much as you guys, especially because even I don't know quite how things are going to go down. Will things develop further between them or will Spritzers end up getting trashed, as the two of them beat each other up? Your guess is as good as mine, so I hope to see you all soon so we can find out. 
> 
> Thank you all once again for your support, it means the world to me and please do check out Celioxa's artworks and show her some of the love you've shown me. The links to her pages are again posted below.
> 
> https://twitter.com/celioxa
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/celioxa_art/
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


	65. S223(U10): You can't always get what you want...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone. I’m back and after only eleven days too (lol, what do I think this is, season one?). Anyway, I’m here all the same and have another chapter for you all to digest. Yep, at last we come to Kim and Shego’s long-awaited next non-date :)
> 
> Before we get started I need to say an absolutely massive thank you to everyone who has left me Kudos, as this story has now surpassed the 500 mark! It is beyond amazing and I could never have imagined getting 100, let alone 500, when I started writing it. So, thank you all so much. And thank you to all my commenters too. The kind words I receive from you guys after each update gives me such a boost and encourage me to keep writing this story. 
> 
> At this point, I also need to say a special thank you to Celioxa, who helped my completely clueless brain figure out exactly what Kim and Shego are wearing in this chapter. For those of you who have visited her Instagram or Twitter pages since the last update and had a nosy around, you will have already seen the amazing drawings she has done of our lovely ladies in these particular outfits. However, for those of you that have not seen them, I’ll provide the direct links below.
> 
> Shego:  
> https://www.instagram.com/p/CJxITp6paz0/  
> https://twitter.com/celioxa/status/1347366620000362499/photo/1
> 
> Kim:  
> https://www.instagram.com/p/CJOl8_rpPOW/  
> https://twitter.com/celioxa/status/1342526948623474695/photo/1
> 
> Which brings us to the update. From the very start of season two, I’ve had this chapter in my head and it was titled Can we try it again; I even named it that in the closing authors' notes of my last two updates and made an allusion to it at the end of the last chapter. However, things occasionally change (such as a short Kim and Ann scene resulting in the longest chapter of the story thus far!) and so there has been a last-minute name change to, You can’t always get what you want… This is the title and a lyric from a song by The Rolling Stones, which I now feel fits the events better than the previous title. 
> 
> So, without any further delay, enjoy.
> 
> P.S. I will catch up and reply to all the comments that I still have outstanding from the last update. However, I figured you guys would prefer an update instead.

The day had been bright and warm, as opposed to yesterday’s overcast drizzle and the sun was well on its way to the horizon, leaving behind a humid night air and clear sky. Kim Possible walked along the sidewalk with an air of trepidation about her, like she expected a villain to attack at any moment. This feeling was not unusual for her, at least not as far as anticipating a supervillain’s sudden appearance went. After the events of her high school graduation, such attacks occurred somewhere in the world on a daily basis and whenever she went out, she always expected, no anticipated the beep from her Kimmunicator that would see her jet off into action once more. However, tonight was different and for two very important reasons, 1: for the second time that week, she’d taken the rare decision to leave her Kimmunicator at home and 2: her encounter with a supervillain was not so much inevitable as it was deliberate. Only this time, she had no intention of fighting them… ok, so that was only a half-truth. She loved to fight Shego and knew her rival reciprocated that feeling, hence she already half-expected the evening, should things go well, to end up in the Middleton High playing fields, where they would dance once more.

Memories of her last fight with Shego on her old school grounds filled Kim’s head and she relaxed somewhat. There was a comforting security when it came to fighting Shego, or any other villain for that matter, in that she felt more in control of those deadly encounters than she did when encountering people in a social situation. Flashes of techniques being thrown back and forth between herself and her rival slowly began to calm her mind and she found her breathing start to regulate; having not even realised it had been slightly erratic. Before she knew it, she had reached the glass front door that sat beneath the loopy neon lettering that read: Spritzers.

 _Ok, Kim, you can do this,_ she breathed on reaching out a slightly shaky hand and gripping the long metal door handle, _it’s just drinks and a chat,_ her stomach rumbled; reminding her that she had not eaten since grabbing a snack during her hunt for the stolen vase in Lowerton, _and food, definitely food._ She opened the door and stepped inside, her eyes immediately scanning the room both for any sign of Shego and for any trouble that might be lurking; she found neither. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her phone and glanced at the time; 19:57, she was a few minutes early. Putting the device back, she headed through the light crowd of people towards the bar. Unwanted memories of how her last visit had ended filled her mind and she had to swat them away, _I won’t let things end that way this time. Even if she still doesn’t want to be my friend, there is still the chance she might be willing to do this every once in a while._ Her mind stopped in its tracks just as she reached the bar and she realised what she had just done. _No, this is **only** drinks, a chat and some food. If I go into this looking for anything else, it’s more likely to end in disaster. _

Like before, Kim sat down on the black leather and chrome stool at the end of the bar and signalled the bartender. Now she just needed to wait for Shego to arrive.

##

The tires of the mad-science modified Honda Blackbird screeched as Shego threw it into a skid inside the parking lot; lining it up perfectly with the parking bay. While the bay that had become her somewhat usual spot had been taken by a red Toyota Yaris, she had easily found another. Guiding the blackbird forward, she cut the engine and kicked down the stand. Taking off her helmet, Shego gave her long raven hair a shake before stowing the green flame adorned headgear under the seat, which did not contain a hopping mad naked-mole-shark. By the time she had finished dressing and come back downstairs, Ru-Ru had cleaned the sofa to a satisfactory level, so she had left him watching the Underworld films; with some fresh snacks.

Shego’s heels clicked on the asphalt as she walked away from the Blackbird. Given that she was meeting Kimmie, she’d made sure they were not too high for her to fight in. She smiled to herself at the thought of them returning to the Middleton High playing fields. _Unless things end the way they did last time, there is a good chance we’ll end up fighting tonight. If things go well, we end up back at the school field, if they go too far south, Spritzers gets trashed._ Interestingly enough, it was that middle ground; where they just got pissed off enough at each other that one of them left that represented the worst-case scenario. If things were to end badly between them tonight, something she hoped to avoid, she’d rather it devolved into a proper fight. At least that way she’d get some measure of enjoyment and might even find Princess hunting her down, meaning she’d get to beat her up more than once.

Shego took a deep breath, _no, not this time. While fighting her relentlessly might be fun for a while, I’ve already been down the road where she can’t see anything but her anger for me and there’s no guarantee that this time she wouldn’t deliberately bring GJ down atop me and I am **not** going back to prison! _She shook her head as she made her way down the sidewalk. _Get a grip, Shego, you need to play this cool tonight and don’t expect anything from her. All you’re going to do is show her what is on offer and let her brain do the work while you have a few drinks and a chat with her. And while she will likely still be too scared to take the bait tonight, you will have planted the seed for the future._ Her brain almost came to a crashing halt at that thought. She’d been so focused on getting tonight right, that she hadn’t given any thought to the implication of her decision not to push for what she wanted. _Fucking hell, if I’m serious about this, I’m signing myself up to continually socialise with Kim fucking Possible. How the hell did I get myself into this mess?_

Shego froze with her hand outstretched; her fingers mere inches away from the metal handle of the glass door that led into Spritzers. _Am I seriously about to do this? Spending one evening with her so I can help her out is one thing, but purposefully trying to get her to do it again, probably more than once, is an entirely different ball game. She’s my rival; my nemesis for fuck sake, I shouldn’t be doing this at all…_ through the glass, her eyes could see beyond the sparse crowd and found the hero’s long flaming-red hair at the bar. Despite what she might try to tell herself, their relationship had long since transcended that of mere nemeses and become so much more complicated as a result. Like it or not, she could not deny that the two prior evenings she had spent in this bar with Kimmie had been the most fun she’d had outside of battling the hero in a long time. And that was before she even touched on the memories she had of the week they had spent as friends; when she had been Miss Go, or how she had felt when they had made-out inside the volcano lair.

 _This goes against virtually all the rules I set out for myself when I abandoned my old life and Shego became my sole persona._ Her hand slowly began to move away from the handle; the small voice in the back of her head telling her that this was the right thing to do, that she should go home, forget about the past two months and allow her relationship with Kim to revert to its simple hero/villain dynamic. _If I go home now, there is no chance of me getting hurt._

 _“But if you do that, you return to the same monotony that’s been boring you for months now,”_ she heard the voice of Miss Go say firmly, before the woman’s tone changed to one of encouragement, _“this is your chance to get out of the comfortable bear trap you put yourself into six years ago, take it.”_

Those few words of encouragement, which only a few weeks ago she would have fought against with everything she had, bolstered Shego’s resolve and her hand gripped the metal handle and pulled the glass door open. And she was not sure if it were herself or the hero she was referring to when she had the thought, _ready or not, here I come._

##

With a strawberry daiquiri sat in front of her, eight o’clock had come and gone. With each passing minute, Kim had slipped her hand into her pocket to check the time on her cell phone and slowly become more nervous and worried. To the point that she had gotten too hot and taken her shirt off and tied it around her waist. However, two minutes later, she’d become consciously aware that her bare shoulders were on display and hastily put the shirt back on.

 _What if she doesn’t come?_ she had thought over and over inside her head, as she took small sips of her cocktail. Ironically, part of her mind liked that outcome. If Shego didn’t turn up, then everything became a lot simpler. They would go back to their old hero/villain dynamic and that would be that. She’d feel hurt and probably as down about the whole thing as she had been when Miss Go had reverted to being Shego, but she’d get over it. However, the bulk of her mind desperately wanted, no needed her rival to show up. Like it or not, she still had a lot of questions that Shego hopefully had the answers to. Not to mention… 

Kim swatted the thought away, _drinks, a chat and some food,_ she reminded herself, _that’s it._ She reached into her pocket to check the time again; 20:12. _Shit… she’s not coming…_ As the seconds ticked by, she began to feel increasingly hot again and so took a long drink of her cocktail, but it didn’t help. So, the shirt came off again and she tied it around her waist once more, only she quickly started to feel self-conscious about it. _Get a grip, Kim, it’s only your shoulders… but what if it gives her the wrong impression. I should have just worn the baggy cargo pants and t-shirt…_

At the entrance to the bar, Shego stepped across the threshold and immediately scanned the room. However, she needn’t have bothered. She already knew the location of the most dangerous person in the place, apart from herself and was about to deliberately engage her. Casually, or as casually as she could manage, she sauntered through the thin crowd towards the bar. Even though there was light chatter coming from all directions, Shego could still make out the click of her heels on the floor, each one likened in her mind to a peal from the division bell, an indication that an important decision had to be made and she was making her choice.

 _This is what I want… isn’t it?_ She immediately heard two voices inside her head; one saying yes, the other saying no. The latter sounded louder than she’d expected and conveyed within that singular word an urge for her to run. For her to turn around and leave before Kimmie even knew she was there and then to bury the memories of the past two months deep within the trash heap that consisted of everything prior to her villain days. Only the strength and conviction of the former kept her moving forward. Giving her the belief that she could do this, that the highs would be worth the risk of the lows, that she wanted to live, not simply exist. She drew up just behind the hero. _As they say, bombs away._

“Hey, Kimmie, fancy seeing you here,” Shego said, trying to inject a healthy dose of her normal sass into her tone but coming up short. A hollow laugh rang inside her head, _damn, I’m genuinely nervous about doing this. Urgh, the last thing I need is for her to pick up on that._

The sound of her rival’s voice from behind her made Kim jump and she automatically spun around on her stool to face her, part of her expecting an attack. However, the moment her eyes laid sight upon the green-skinned woman and her wide-open defence, the spark of adrenaline was quickly doused out by a torrent of nerves. “Hey,” she replied, trying to sound calm, but hearing both the apprehension and relief in her own voice. “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show.”

The second the hero’s words reached her ears, Shego could tell the girl was nervous. _She sounds as bad as I did. Heh, we’re lucky none of the other supervillains are around, otherwise, we’d both lose our street cred._ “It’s called being fashionably late, Cupcake,” she said, again aiming for full-on sass but missing the mark. _Ok, I seriously need a strong drink, otherwise knowing my luck, she’ll recover and put me on the back foot._ “I thought you were well versed in that art these days, given how late you kept leaving it to show up and thwart Dr D,” she added, trying to add a friendly dig to her comment, but quickly realising it sounded hammy. _Jesus fucking Christ, Shego, get a grip of yourself._

While every one of her own nerves was on edge, Kim could still detect apprehension in her rival’s voice. _Holy crap, she sounds almost on edge as I am. What on earth has she got to be nervous about?_ “I’m a busy woman. Why would I possibly want to show up early to stop Drakken? To listen to him monologuing?” she said, returning the dig with one of her own. Making the joke helped to settle her slightly. Trading banter and petty insults while around Dr Drakken was safe territory for them. The only problem being that the mad-scientist was still safely locked away inside cellblock D, meaning they were without a chaperon. 

_Now that’s a low blow, Princess._ Unfortunately, no witty retort came to mind. Not caring if Kimmie considered her to have conceded the first point, she broke eye contact and turned to face the bar. “Yo, bartender,” she said and as soon as she had the man’s attention added, “get me an Aunt Roberta,” _quickly,_ before the man turned around, she added, “in fact, make that two _._ ”

On hearing her rival double her order, Kim said lightly, “I’m not going to dance with you unless you buy me a drink I actually like.” Her own comment caused a memory of their first night in the bar and the ‘ _Jesus Christ this thing’s strong!’_ taste of the vodka martini to surface in her mind. The call back to that first social encounter added to the calming effect of her prior joke and she slowly felt herself begin to relax.

Shego turned to look at Kimmie as she replied, “don’t worry, Princess, I’ll spare the back of your throat Aunt Roberta’s burn for now; these are both for me.” Her eyes couldn’t help but rove up and down the fiery-haired vixen. Even though the girl was still seated, she had a perfect view of her outfit. Short black boots with a similar-sized heel to her own encased Kimmie’s feet and she didn’t need to ask to know that it was in case they wound up fighting one another. Moving up her legs, the hero had gone for a pair of skinny black jeans with multiple rips across the knees and thighs, Around her waist, a red and navy checked flannel shirt was tied and while the knot covered some of it, Shego could still see Kimmie’s naked midriff. A midriff left exposed by a long-sleeved black pullover, which also showed off the girl’s shoulders and a slight bit of cleavage. The outfit had been finished with a plain black choker. _Hmm, I don’t recall the last time I saw you expose your midriff like that, Princess, not to mention the shoulders and light cleavage you’ve got on display. Did you wear that top just for me?_ She tried to push that thought out of her mind. _I made it clear to her that this was drinks and a chat only…_ she chuckled internally, _like what I’m wearing says that._

Kim watched as Shego’s eyes looked her up and down, but the green-skinned woman’s expression remained unreadable throughout. _Crap, she’s checking me out and I’ve no idea whether she likes what I’m wearing or not!_ The thought caught her off guard and she felt her cheeks begin to burn slightly. _Dammit, Kim, focus. It doesn’t matter what she thinks of you or what you’re wearing, as this isn’t a date._ However, she struggled to shake that small part of her that wanted Shego to like her outfit. And soon she found her own eyes looking her rival up and down. Only there was not much to see. Aside from the short-healed black boots that stopped just above her knee, a thin short black coat, which came mid-way down the thighs, concealed the rest of the woman’s outfit and Kim could not help but have the thought, _is she wearing pants? A_ pair of gold teardrop earrings and matching necklace were the only other things she could see. “So, why do you need two drinks?” Kim eventually asked, ending the brief and slightly awkward silence that had hung between them.

“Because by the looks of that,” Shego pointed to the cocktail glass, which contained the dregs of what she assumed had been a strawberry daiquiri, that sat in front of Kimmie, “I’m at least one behind already and as you pointed out the first time we were here, my tolerance for alcohol far exceeds yours.” While both points were true, they would simply serve as a convenient excuse for her to drink the first of her cocktails quickly, so she could try and settle herself.

Kim’s eyes followed Shego’s gaze to her glass and only then did she realise that in her pent-up state, she’d virtually finished the drink while she’d been waiting on the woman to arrive. She was about to open her mouth to reply when they were interrupted by the bartender.

“Your drinks, Miss,” the man behind the bar said and sat two glasses of dark amber liquid down in front of Shego.

“And another strawberry daiquiri for my,” there was a brief moment of hesitation before Shego finished, “companion.” She then quickly handed the money over to the man to prevent Kimmie from sneakily trying to pay for the drinks, like she had done on their first social encounter. While she waited for the man to mix her rivals cocktail, she took a long drink from her first Aunt Roberta and ignored the continual burn in the back of her throat. When eventually the man sat it down on the bar, she slid it over to Kimmie and gave her a wolfish smile. “There you are, Pumpkin, a drink you like, now you have to dance with me.”

A grin formed on Kim’s face, recalling she’d said something similar the first time they had drunk together and she did not hesitate to reach out a hand and pick up the glass. “Suites me fine, as it saves me having to buy you one.”

The boldness of her rival’s comment told Shego that her nerves had started to settle and that she needed to return fire quickly. Taking another long drink, she glanced around to make sure no one would overhear if she raised her voice ever so slightly and said, “so, how is my favourite newbie lesbian getting on?”

The woman’s words hit Kim with a force akin to being punched in the gut by one of her green plasma wreathed fists and sounded as though they would have travelled to the four corners of the room with ease. Her mouth fell open and her eyes widened in horror as she stared dumbfounded at Shego. “W… w… why w…w… would y…y… you,” she stammered. _Oh, god, there is more than enough people here to recognise me and all it will take is one of them to talk to the press for a story about me being gay to hit the front of a tabloid by Monday at the latest._ Her gaze began darting around to see the people who would undoubtedly be staring at her.

Shego would have been lying if she’d said she hadn’t enjoyed the look of abject horror on the fiery-haired vixen’s face at least slightly. However, she had a good reason for what she had just done. “Don’t worry, Kimmie,” she said in a reassuring tone and deliberately lowered voice, “I have no intention of outing you and if on nothing else, you can trust me on this.” _You might not believe me, Princess, but that’s one thing I would never do._

Kim’s heart rate and breathing slowly began to regulate as it dawned on her that not a single person had turned to look at her and the background chatter had remained as it was prior to Shego making her comment. She turned her olive-green gaze back onto the raven-haired woman. “Then why would you…” she began but was quickly cut off.

“Because it would have taken me about an hour plus a couple of drinks to find out what that one reaction just told me about where you are at,” Shego answered.

 _Damn, you, Shego. What if someone had overheard?_ A sour expression formed on Kim’s face, “you could have at least tried asking me normally.”

“And you would have told me that you were fine, possibly even made out that you were doing great and were ready to start telling people,” Shego said smoothly, _and don’t try to deny it._

Kim immediately tried to deny it. “Given I was the one who wanted to talk to you about it in the first place, if you had waited until we were seated and properly out of earshot of other people, I would have told you the truth,” she said hotly, almost convincing herself.

Shego, however, was having none of it. “Yeah, right, Kimmie. You might have been the one who wanted to talk, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re just as stubborn as I am and if it were roles reversed; with you asking me that question, I’d have tried to pretend that everything was great, as neither of us ever want to give ground to the other or admit we can’t handle something by ourselves.” She fixed her rival with a piercing stare that dared her to argue the point.

It burned Kim that Shego had been able to cut straight to the heart of the matter. Yet at the same time, that was also one of the reasons why she liked the woman; she understood her better than anyone else. However, that did not mean that she did not begrudge the woman the response, “fine, I might not have been entirely honest with you.”

“Well, at least you’re willing to admit it,” Shego said with an air of amusement, before her tone turned serious. “However, if you want me to help you tonight, you’ll need to zero your ego this one time. Otherwise, I might as well not bother.”

Kim could see in her rival’s eyes that she was serious and if she wanted the woman’s help, this one time she would have to be completely open and honest. “You’re right, Shego. I need your help on this, so if you need me to be honest with you, then I’ll try my hardest.” She let out a slightly forced laugh. “You might have to press me a couple of times, as you can’t expect me to break a five-year habit in one night.” _Shit, is she going to construe that as me wanting to do this again?_

Shego let out an evil laugh, “don’t worry, Princess, I have ways of making you talk,” _and making your cheeks turn scarlet._

“Urgh, this isn’t going to be the whole strap me to a table while an oversized death-ray laser zeroes in on my crotch again, is it?” Kim laughed. _Did Drakken actually do that to me, or was that from one of Ron’s stupid movies?_ She’d done so many missions over the years and been captured a fair number of times by the mad-scientist that she couldn’t rightly remember all the overblown and ridiculously complicated ways he’d tried to kill her.

“Hey, I don’t want to know what you and Dr D get up to when I’m not around,” Shego replied in mock disgust, but a smile still formed on her lips regardless.

Kim grinned and before she could stop herself said, “why, jealous?” Amber warning lights started to flash inside her head to indicate the danger of a possible meltdown. _Oh, shit! She’s definitely going to take that as me flirting with her._ This thought was quickly followed up by one of even greater concern. _Oh shit! Did I just flirt with her?_ and she had a bad idea she knew the answer to that.

“Ha, me, jealous of Dr D, not a chance,” Shego replied quickly, too caught up in the moment to properly think about the possible connotations of what her rival had just said. “Besides, we both know that blue is so not your colour. Green, on the other hand…” before she could stop herself, she flashed Kimmie a wink and the deliciousness of the hero’s cheeks turning red was enough to suppress any thoughts of the order, _‘what the hell are you doing?’_

Cheeks now starting to burn once more, Kim’s brain teetered on the brink of meltdown. _Oh fuck, I think I did flirt with her and she definitely took it as that and now she’s flirting back, at least I think she’s flirting back, no, she is definitely flirting back, oh fuck she winked at me and… Oh God, now she’s looking at me like she wants to devour me and I have no idea what to do or say, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!_ Eventually, after a few seconds of simply staring at Shego’s somewhat predatory expression, Kim did the only thing she could. Breaking eye contact, she picked up her strawberry daiquiri and virtually buried her face in it as she took a long slow drink to try and calm herself down enough to think straight. _I need to get a grip and fast. I can’t take back what I said… and I’m not sure I want to… shit, I am in way over my head here._ She stopped drinking and took as deep a breath as she dared that would not be noticed by her rival. _Ok, Kim, best thing to do is to concede the point and change the subject._ Her brain was about to ask the question, _‘to what’_ , when her eyes, which were still focused on her cocktail, provided the answer. “So, should we get forfeit bottles?”

The sheer cuteness of Kimmie’s embarrassment sparked a green fire inside Shego and she knew she would find the hero hard to resist. _Damn, she is adorable and that was only after one comment and a wink. What on earth is she going to be like when I remove my coat?_ However, that begged the question, _is Kimmie actually into me? I mean I think she was flirting with me, but I thought the same last time and look how badly that turned out… but this time she knows that she’s gay._ She shook her head internally, _don’t jump to conclusions, Shego, play this cool, remember._ She allowed her rival the space to drink enough strawberry daiquiri to sink a ship and when she finally heard her response, it reminded her that they were here for a reason. “No forfeit bottles tonight, as we’re not playing a game. If you don’t want to answer a question, that’s up to you, but the less you talk, the fewer answers you’ll get, simple.”

It came as somewhat of a relief to Kim, to know that Shego was taking this seriously. _I don’t think I could have coped if she’d invited me out here just so she could mock me for being a clueless noob of a lesbian._ “Ok,” she breathed, feeling a little of the tension that had ratcheted up inside her because of the possibly intentional flirting ebb. “Our usual spot is free,” she indicated towards the booth in the far corner that they had used on their two previous visits; it would give them plenty of privacy, “why don’t we go sit down and if your hungry, order some food.” _Please say your hungry, as I’m on edge enough as it is without adding the awkwardness that eating by myself will bring._ To supplement her trouble, at the mention of food, her stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly.

“Ha, your stomach sounds like Ru-Ru when he’s hungry and I refuse to give him a snack because I’m about to make dinner,” Shego laughed. “However, I did say drinks, conversation and maybe some food, so dinner it is.”

“Hey, my stomach does not sound like Ru-Ru!” Kim said indignantly, but couldn’t stop herself from laughing when her stomach rumbled again. “Fine, so maybe it sounds a bit like that sneaky little sod, but only because I’ve only had time to grab a quick snack since breakfast; twelve hours ago.”

“Then I guess we had better feed you, otherwise all I’m going to get from you is Rah-Rah-Rah.” They both laughed and Shego drained the last of her first Aunt Roberta and picked up the second one. “Do you want to order another drink before we sit down?”

Kim glanced at her now somewhat empty second strawberry daiquiri, _damn I drank that fast._ However, even though she’d had nearly two full cocktails in half an hour, her body reported that she still felt surprisingly sober. _I guess this is how mom must have felt the other night when she drank half a bottle of wine but said she still felt quite sober._ “Sure,” she replied and then in an effort to regain some measure of control over proceedings, added, “but I’m buying this time. What do you want?”

“Get me a Long Island iced tea,” Shego said, purposely dropping down a few rungs on the list of most alcoholic cocktails. I _f I keep knocking back Aunt Roberta’s I’ll need to use my glow to sober myself up before we even start talking about lesbian stuff._

Kim signalled the barman and while she waited on him to finish serving another customer, asked, “so, how is Ru-Ru? Does he try to steal your toaster tarts too?”

Shego gave her rival a sideways look, “seriously, Kimmie, toaster tarts?”

“What?” Kim replied incredulously. “I’d just inadvertently sent you to jail and discovered that I’m…” she paused abruptly and found herself unable to say the words, ‘I’m gay’, so instead went with the ambiguous, “…you know. It was a lot to deal with and I wanted comfort food.”

“So, while I was spooning cold porridge into my mouth like a zombie, you were scoffing toaster tarts. Nice to know what your priorities were,” Shego said in mock offence, still counted herself fortunate that Kimmie had decided to bust her out of jail in the first place.

“You’re lucky I got you out at all,” Kim hissed, ensuring her voice was so low that her rival would only just hear her words. “However, I’d rather we didn’t mention that escapade in public.”

There was a slight edge to Kimmie’s tone and Shego knew that it would be for the best if this was one thing she did not push the hero’s buttons over. So, she quickly returned to the original question, “Ru-Ru knows better than to try and steal my breakfast. However, he came close to becoming a barbecued naked-mole-shark while I was getting ready to go out, as he stomped all over a pile of savoury snacks atop my sofa when the satellite signal cut out during World of Cheese.”

Kim burst out laughing and did not need to ask, “seriously?” to picture Ru-Ru doing just that.

“You had him living with you for a week and a half, I’m sure he lost his temper at least once per day during that time,” Shego said with a grin. “What did you do with him when he stole your toaster tarts?”

A wicked smile formed on Kim’s face as she recalled what had happened that morning. “After I’d grabbed him and he’d bitten me to escape, I fetched my claw-grabber grapple and infrared sunglasses and went naked-mole-shark hunting. I eventually caught him hiding inside one of my kitchen pots and shot the back of it with the grapple. I then trapped him underneath it until he ran out of energy trying to beat his way out.”

Shego laughed, “that sounds about right. I bet he caused you more trouble in that week and a half than Rufus intentionally did in all the time you were around him.”

“Something like that.” Kim had to break off the conversation when the bartender approached her. “Can I get two Long Island iced teas and some menus over at that booth in the corner when you get a sec,” she indicated the empty booth she and Shego were about to take up residence in, “please and thank you.” When the man nodded, she paid for the drinks and turned back to Shego, “shall we?”

“Lead on, Princess,” the green-skinned woman replied and smiled internally. _Let’s see how you handle things when I take off my coat._

Glass in hand, Kim hopped down from her stool and led the way across the front of the bar and to the back of the room. _Ok, apart from the fact we were both nervous at the start and that one minor slipup where I may or may not have accidentally flirted with her, everything seems to be going fine, great even. It’s almost like everything that’s happened in-between the last time we were here and now hasn’t… only it has and I need to deal with the fact I now know I’m a lesbian and everything that involves, including how I might feel about..._ she forced her mind to bury that thought. _I can’t focus on that right now; I need to get some of my questions answered first._ When she reached the booth, Kim picked a side and slid into it.

Shego deliberately allowed Kimmie to get several steps ahead of her before she started to follow her. _Ok, Cupcake, let’s see how much you blush this time._ Slowly she sauntered after the girl, ensuring every aspect of her walk radiated sexuality. While the hero had her back to her at present, with any luck, the fiery-haired vixen would sit down and turn to look at her and see her approach before she stopped to take off her coat. She took a few more steps, meanwhile, Kimmie did as expected and sat down. _Now be a good girl and turn around to look at me…_

When Shego did not immediately slide in opposite her, Kim turned to locate her rival and caught sight of her slithering towards her like a green flame dancing in a light breeze. The green-skinned woman stopped and then casually bent over slightly to place her glass on the table; flashing her a wicked smile. _Oh God, she’s…_ the thought died in her mind and her eyes widened as the woman straightened, tossing her mane of raven hair and casually undid the knot in the black belt that held her coat closed. The two halves of the garment parted just enough for Kim to catch a glimpse of something dark green before Shego turned her back on her and slowly slipped it off to reveal the short-sleeved romper in full; casting the coat into the booth. However, if she had thought her eyes wide before, it was nothing compared to how they must have looked when the green-skinned woman turned back around to face her and she saw the outfit from the front. Stopping a bit before the midpoint of Shego’s thighs, the dark green romper had a triangular cut-out below her breasts, which displayed some of her toned midriff. Ample cleavage could also be seen in the deep V-neck. The outfit was complemented by a dark brown cord belt, which had a gold ring and finishings and a thin woven cord bracelet on her left wrist. _Holy… she’s…_ words failed to materialise in Kim’s mind that adequately described someone that looked more beautiful and divine than anything she’d seen in her life thus far.

Shego drank in the expression, which was a mix of astonishment and awe, that covered Kimmie’s face. _Looks like someone’s just had their first seriously gay moment. Heh, either that or I just look that good._ Allowing the flaming-haired vixen a few more seconds to stare wide-eyed at her, she finally sat down and said, “so, Kimmie…”

The words jolted Kim out of her transfixed state and reminded her far too much of the two occasions in the past where Shego had kissed her on the cheek. And like a patient that had just had their heart jump-started, she jerked back to life and her gaze shot up from where it had lingered and met with a pair of knowing emerald eyes and a mischievous grin.

“…are you going to deny that you were checking me out this time too?” Shego finished airily. _Oh, go on, Kimmie, you do look ever so cute when you get embarrassed._

When her brain finally managed to process what her rival had just said, Kim’s cheeks burned so brightly they could have been used to guide ships safely into port on the darkest of nights. “I…I…I w…w…wasn’t…” she stammered but utterly failed to complete the sentence, in part because of how embarrassed she felt but also because she knew she had been trying to spout a complete and utter lie.

 _That’s my girl,_ Shego thought and allowed herself a moment or two to enjoy the fruits of her labour before she finally said, “Kimmie, what did we say about you being open and honest with me tonight?”

Kim sucked in a few shallow breaths and her hand immediately shot out and grabbed the stem of her cocktail glass. Plucking it from the table surface, she quickly drained what remained of the contents. _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, she looks amazing and what’s worse is that I know she looks amazing and she knows I know._ When she ended up drinking only air out of her glass, she took a deep breath and cursed herself for having not waited at the bar until the barman had made their Long Island iced teas. _Dammit, I don’t have a choice but to admit it._ “Ok, I was checking you out,” Kim finally stammered, feeling the furnaces behind her cheeks getting stoked further. “But can you blame me? You’re the first woman I’ve seen dressed in something so… so…” it took her a moment before she was able to force herself to say, “so sexy, since I discovered that I liked girls.”

“So, you think I look sexy, Princess,” Shego replied, her grin widening, “good to know.” _Oh, Kimmie, I could toast marshmallows on your face, however, I bet they wouldn’t taste half as delicious as you._

“I didn’t… I mean that wasn’t…” Kim stammered before throwing her head back against the soft leather of the booth, “argh!”

“Don’t worry about it, Kimmie,” Shego laughed lightly. “You’re a baby gay, so you were bound to have a moment like this sooner or later,” _I just made sure it happened when you were with me._ “I’m actually surprised you didn’t take a peek at me when I undressed in your car the other night.”

The sound of her rival making light of the situation caused Kim to refocus her gaze upon her and her heart felt like it might start to slow down. That was until the green-skinned woman caught her completely off guard with the comment regarding the drive back to Middleton from the penitentiary. While Shego clearly did not know that she had sneaked a glance at her while she had changed, given Kim’s current state of disarray, simply mentioning the event was enough to jack up her embarrassment level to new heights. And as an image of Shego’s naked breasts, with their large dark green nipples, formed in her mind, she could feel beads of sweat begin to form on her forehead and her eyes could no longer hold the woman’s piercing emerald gaze and she immediately became flustered.

The shifty look in the fiery-haired vixen’s olive-green eyes was enough to tell Shego immediately that she’d struck gold. “HA! You actually did, didn’t you!” she exclaimed loudly and burst out laughing. Through tears of hilarity at the look of sheer mortification that formed on the hero’s face, she managed to add, “Kim Possible, world saviour and peeping Tom!”

The sound of Shego’s laughter at her humiliation finally caused Kim to snap. “I couldn’t help it, ok! You literally took off all your clothes while I was still driving!”

“You could have averted your gaze or closed your eyes,” Shego challenged, her tone still dripping with amusement. “Not only were we on a straight road, but you spent a lot that trip, prior to me falling asleep, looking at me while we spoke. So, I’m willing to bet that car of yours can drive itself.”

Kim opened her mouth to argue but already knew that she had lost yet another point. “Ok, fine, so I got curious, big deal. You were the first naked woman I’d seen since discovering that I liked girls. Are you happy?”

Before she could stop herself and in what she later could only assume had been an attempt to make Kimmie feel even more uncomfortable, Shego flashed her rival a hungry look and replied, “I’ll be happy when you let me level the score and look at your gorgeous naked body.” The moment the words left her mouth they rang in her own ears and she clamped a metaphorical hand over her mouth.

Kim and Shego stared at one another and both had the exact same thought, _oh shit!_

Shego’s mind immediately launched into ‘beat herself up’ mode. _Why the fuck did I just say that? Urgh! Shego, you are such an idiot! Why do you always have to take things a step to far? You knocked it out the park with your outfit, elicited a whopper of a gay moment from her and because you can’t keep your stupid mouth shut and play something cool, she’s going to be like a rabbit staring at a wolf. URGH!_

 _Oh, God! Shego wants to see me naked and it’s not just to level the score. That almost predatory look in her eyes… she still wants to sleep with me._ The last time they had been in Spritzers, it had only been after she had safely gotten home that it had properly sunk in that Shego had wanted to sleep with her. However, this time around, Kim knew exactly what her rival meant and the entire prospect of it, of sleeping with someone, with that someone being another woman and that woman being Shego, was too much for her to deal with and she needed to remove herself from the situation. “I need to use the restroom,” she said quickly and without waiting for a response, rose from the table and hurried off.

 _And there she goes. She’ll hide in there for a couple of minutes and then either come back with some phoney excuse as to why she has to leave or, more likely, simply sneak out._ Shego grabbed her second Aunt Roberta from the table and practically poured the alcohol down her throat. _Well done, Idiot._

##

Kim stood in the restroom, head hanging over the sink, knuckles white as she gripped the porcelain rim, heart in her mouth as her breaths came in ragged pants. _Come on, Kim, you need to focus. You need to get your breathing under control… but Shego wants to sleep with me._ Images of what occurred back in the volcano lair flashed through her mind and dug up the twin feelings of lust and desire she’d experienced in such vast quantities for the first time in her life. _I would have slept with her right there and then if those generators hadn’t of blown._ That thought served only to kick her heart rate up and for her panted breaths to become even sharper. _I would have slept with her and I don’t have the first clue about how lesbians even have sex._

As the memories of her brief make-out session began to intensify, Kim did the only thing she could; turned on the tap, cupped her hands under it and splashed as much water as she could onto her warm face. The sudden chill from the water succeeded in pulling her firmly back to the here and now and she gasped loudly. Slowly she began to calm down and regain some semblance of control over herself. _I can’t change what happened in the volcano lair, not the fact that I made out with Shego nor the fact that those generators blew when they did and ruined the moment._ Kim did not know which of those two events bothered her more; a testament to how torn she’d been over the issue ever since she’d started thinking about it and exactly why she’d tried to avoid doing so for so long. _But what the hell am I supposed to do now? She was the one who said this was supposed to be drinks, conversation and food only, yet she goes and dresses in something so damn sexy and…_ she threw her head into her hands, _URGH!_ _Why did she have to complicate things?_

Slowly Kim began to pace back and forth and quietly counted herself fortunate that none of the other patrons had walked in on her thus far. _Right, she still wants to sleep with me, that much is clear. But I can’t sleep with her… I’ve never slept with anyone before, not even Ron… but then again Ron’s a boy and I’m a lesbian, so it makes perfect sense that I didn’t sleep with him. But that doesn’t mean it’s ok for me to sleep with the first woman that wants to jump into bed with me. Not to mention that woman is Shego, which just makes the situation so much more complicated._

Glancing to her right, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror; of her bare shoulders and midriff. _Dammit, is this my fault? Did I dress too provocatively?_ Her mind quickly found itself back in her wardrobe. _And I even contemplated wearing something with even more sex appeal. Urgh, I should have just come out in the baggy cargo pants and t-shirt… but then I would have looked like a complete and utter piece of garbage next to her…_ The image of Shego, dressed in her short green romper and boots floated lightly into her mind and she could not deny how sexy she thought her rival looked. _Face facts, she looks absolutely gorgeous and maybe I thought about dressing to impress her too…_ she looked at herself again in the mirror, _ok, so maybe I still did dress with the hope of catching her eye a little. But at the most my outfit says, “I might be open to kissing you… once,” not, “let’s sleep together.” Argh, why did this have to become so complicated!_

Kim threw her head into her hands and it took her several moments of internal cursing before she could try and rationalise things again. _I’m not ready to sleep with anyone, especially not Shego,_ she thought firmly. Unfortunately, as concreate a decision as that was, it left her in exactly the same spot she’d been in the last time Shego and herself had spent the evening together in Spritzers. Her rival wanted to sleep with her, whereas she just wanted to be friends with the woman. Kim let out a deflated sigh, _I know we agreed on drinks and conversation only, but I had thoughts about this possibly being a second opportunity for us to try and be friends, so maybe since she now knows that I am lesbian, Shego couldn’t help but think this might have been another opportunity for us to sleep together. So, I have to go out there and be honest with her, as if this goes on any further, we’re going to end up hating one another again and that’s the worst possible outcome._

Mind made up; Kim wiped the remaining water droplets from her face before heading back out of the restroom. She had a bad feeling about what was about to transpire but knew she had to set the record straight.

##

It had been an uncomfortable few minutes, during which a waiter had arrived with their Long Island iced teas and some menus. And all Shego had done was internally beat herself up over having been so damn stupid. _Why on earth did I make that fucking stupid comment about wanting to see her naked? How else was she going to take it? I might as well have slipped my romper down to my ankles to reveal a ten-inch strapon and told her to bend over. URGH! I am such a moron. In fact, that was Drakken level moronic!_

Snatching her glass from the table, Shego took a long drink from her new cocktail. With the speed she’d drank the second Aunt Roberta, she had almost been surprised that her glow had not activated and burned off the alcohol, given how strong they were. However, it had transpired that the volume inside the glass had not been enough for her alien superpower to count it as a mass influx of a toxin.

The minutes continued to tick by, but with no sign of Kimmie emerging from the restroom. _Prft, I’d be surprised if she even bothers to come out. There’s a window in that bathroom that would make for an easy escape. In fact, by now, she’s probably already a block or two away._ At that thought, Shego tore her gaze away from the restroom door and stared at the empty booth opposite her; taking in the two Long Island iced teas. _Might as well drink both of these myself and then head home, as I’m not sitting here to eat alone. Maybe I’ll grab some take-out food on the way. Then I can sit on the sofa beside my naked-mole-shark and get drunk while he watches violent vampire films._

A shadow fell across the table and Shego turned her gaze to tell whoever had chosen to loiter beside her to fuck off, only for the words to die on her tongue. “Kimmie,” she finally managed to say on taking in the slender build, flaming-red hair and bright olive-green eyes. However, this did not immediately give her cause to celebrate. _Ok, so she didn’t go out the restroom window, but I bet I’m about to get the phoney excuse instead._

When her gaze finally fell on Shego’s face, Kim could see the surprise written on it. S _he didn’t expect me to come back. Heh, I guess the window in the restroom would have been the obvious way for me to escape if I’d wanted to._ Interestingly enough, it was only now that she thought about it, that she realised that it had never even crossed her mind. But then again, she was Kim Possible and the recent revelation about her sexuality aside, she didn’t run from anything.

Kim carefully sat back down in the booth, not failing to notice that their drinks had arrived while she had been gone. She took a deep breath, _ok, here we go again._ “Shego, before this goes any further there’s something I have to say.”

From the tone of the hero’s voice, Shego knew her rival was being serious, however, the content of her words, combined with the fact she’d sat back down, did not immediately say, ‘I’m fucking off and here’s a horseshit explanation as to why’. Still not trusting that her tongue wouldn’t screw things up, she took a sip from her glass and allowed Kimmie to continue.

“I know that you want to sleep with me…” Kim said before taking an agonising pause. Part of her wished she did not have to say what came next, that if sleeping with Shego would be enough to gain the woman’s friendship she might genuinely consider it, however, she knew she was just not ready for that sort of thing. “…but I can’t have sex with you,” she finally uttered in a deflated voice. “I just want to be your friend.” In hindsight, she probably could have phrased the whole thing a lot better.

Whatever Shego had been expecting Kimmie to say, that had not been it. And her brain did not have time to properly process the hero’s words before it latched onto that final part and fired back the same response, that for the longest time, she’d been so used to shooting at anyone who’d ever tried to befriend her, “I don’t do friends.”

Even though she had been prepared for it this time, the bite in Shego’s tone still hurt and Kim lowered her gaze. “I know,” she replied dejectedly. Even though she had not really expected a different result, she’d not anticipated the finality of the situation to hurt this much. While she’d had none of her questions answered, Kim now knew she could not do this. If her relationship with Shego would simply be that between hero and villain from this point on, then she could not put herself through an evening with the woman; knowing that was all that awaited her on the other side. Before her rival had the chance to reply, Kim got to her feet. “I’m sorry I wasted your time,” she said and hastily stepped out of the booth and headed towards the exit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone for taking the time to read this story and for all the kudos and comments that you have all left for me, it has meant so much to me over the past ten months.
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


	66. S224(U11): ...but if you try sometimes, well you just might find, you get what you need

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone, welcome back. 
> 
> After the bombshell on which the last chapter ended, I've endeavoured to bring this next update to you as soon as possible, so here it is. Since you all probably want to find out what our hopeless hero and villain are going to do next, I'll simply say thank you to everyone for all the usual reasons and get straight on with it.
> 
> Like last time out, the chapter title this time is also from the Rolling Stones song, You can't always get what you want, which is true, but if you try sometimes, well you just might find, you get what you need. 
> 
> Enjoy.

Shego heard the bite in her own words and knew that, like the last time they had been in this situation, they would have cut Kimmie deep. And as she listened to the girl’s downbeat apology and watched her rise, she heard the voice of Miss Go say to her, _“you knew there would be a cost and you said you were willing to pay it. Are you really going to let her walk away a second time?”_

As Kimmie turned her back and made to head towards the exit, her mind descended into civil war. The part of her brain that marched under the banner of her Shego persona firing off rounds that amounted to this being for the best and that letting the hero leave was the right thing to do, as that would allow her to move on from the nonsense that had started two months ago, thus things would return to normal. However, they were met by the forces of Miss Go, who returned fire with thoughts about how board she’d been prior to that chance social encounter with Kimmie and everything positive that had happened over the past two months.

In the end, Shego yelled, _SHUT UP!_ so loudly inside her head, she was surprised the words had not escaped from her mouth. Her gaze found Kimmie’s flaming-red hair as it moved dejectedly through the crowd. _I came here to help her but also because she lit a fire inside me back in that volcano lair and she is not getting out of here without a fight._ Sliding out of the booth, Shego raised her voice so it would travel through the crowd, “Kim, wait!”

It was not the fact that Shego had called after her that shocked Kim. Indeed, she would have been more surprised if she had not received some sort of barbed parting shot. Rather it had been the content of her rival’s words that caught her unawares. However, of the two words, it was not, _“wait!”_ that grabbed her attention and compelled her to turn around. _She just called me Kim… she only ever does that when she is being both sincere and serious… what the hell?_

Kim’s eyes passed over the crowd, a few of whom had turned their heads to see what the commotion was. Not even Spritzers customers could ignore a spectacle happening directly in their midst. Eventually, her gaze fell upon Shego and despite what had just happened, she could not deny how stunning the woman looked. Nevertheless, she kept her tone level and neutral when she replied, “what?”

As Shego had hoped, her words had been enough to re-engage with Kimmie. _Ok, I’ve got her attention. I just need to be careful here and get her back to the table. At least she doesn’t sound like she’s preparing to fight me... yet._ To indicate that she had no intention of starting a bar brawl, she raised her open hands in a placating gesture. “I’m sorry I snapped at you,” she said with an unfamiliar sincerity. “Will you come back so we can talk about this?”

While Kim could hear how earnest her rival now sounded, the memory of her biting remark, not to mention the nastiness of her response after she had posed the friendship question the first time, were still burned into her memory. “What, so you can come up with a different way to tell me to fuck off?” she fired back, now firmly in defence mode. _I might have wanted to be her friend, but she’s already made it clear that’s not happening._ “Sorry, but I’ve been burned by you once before,” she added, the memory of the pain she’d felt when the green-skinned woman’s claws had torn through her back adding to the others.

 _Goddammit, Kimmie, why do you always have to be so damn stubborn!_ Shego had to quickly quell the bubble of frustration that her rival’s comment had automatically elicited. She took a deliberate breath to calm her temper, _it’s ok, I technically deserved that. But damn, I thought an apology would have been enough to get her to come back… shit._ Unfortunately, she could see from Kimmie’s expression that she would have the hero’s attention for only a few moments longer before she turned and left. With time rapidly running out, she said the only thing she could think of, “I don’t want you to leave.”

The words left Shego’s mouth and like when she had made the comment about seeing Kim naked, both hero and villain had the same thought, _what the fudge?_

Kim stared at her rival and locked gazes with her. While they were just over three meters apart, she could see in the woman’s emerald eyes that, whether she had meant to or not, she had told the truth. _She doesn’t want me to leave, why?_ An unsurprising answer quickly followed, _despite what she’s said about the possibility of us being friends, I was right, she does enjoy spending time with me. But it’s just words if she’s not willing to back it up._

Shego met Kimmie’s stare with one of her own, as her brain quickly tried to catch up with what she had just said. _Crap, I’ve pretty much admitted that I enjoy spending time with her… but I didn’t have much choice. I had to give her something or she would have walked._ She studied her rival’s expression for a heartbeat or two. _Dammit, while I’ve got her attention, I think she’s going to want more._ “We’ve got a pair of the best Long Island iced teas in Middleton sitting here. Have this one drink with me and if you’re not happy by the time you’re finished, then you can walk away without conceding the point.”

Kim knew Shego may have made that last comment as a way of giving her an out without surrender, but by doing so, her rival had also underhandedly made the request into a challenge. A scowl formed on her face, _dammit, Shego, that’s a low blow._ Her pride and stubbornness immediately clashed with her desire to leave and protect herself and there could only be one winner. “Fine,” she growled, her dander now well and truly up, “I’ll have the stupid drink, but once it’s finished, I’m gone.” Grudgingly, she crossed the distance between them and slid back into the booth.

While she had succeeded in bringing Kimmie back to the table, Shego knew she had a very finite amount of time in which to talk. And that was before she sat down and immediately had to watch the hero pick up her glass and drink a large mouthful. _Fuck, she’s not going to give me long. What the hell do I even say?_ Like it was some weird sort of hourglass, she stared at her rival’s Long Island iced tea and took a breath. “How many proper friends have you ever had?” she asked after a few moments of silence, hoping she’d have time for the explanation.

“Why the hell does that matter?” Kim bit back and deliberately took another drink from her glass; not letting it rest on the tabletop. _If this is another of her weird-ass explanations, I’m outta here._

Shego rolled her eyes. She did not have time for Kim to be stubborn. “Answer the question and I’ll explain,” she replied quickly, trying to keep any irritation she might have felt out of her tone.

Kim hesitated briefly and it pained her somewhat to openly admit, “three. Four if you include Wade and five if you count the friend I had for only one week,” adding that last part as a dig that she knew Shego would not fail to pick up on. “What’s your point?” She took another drink.

“If you don’t socialise with him, Nerdlinger doesn’t count,” Shego said quickly, electing to ignore the reference to the week when she herself had been on that short list. _I don’t have time to argue about when I was stuck as Miss Go._ “Of those other three, how many are you still friends with?”

The question caught Kim off guard and she felt three different sized stabs of remorse; one for each of the friends she’d lost. The smallest and most recent, the result of her fight with Monique; to whom she still struggled to find a reason to apologise. The second was for Ron and the fact that she now knew her, at the time unknown sexual preferences, had played a part in why their relationship and friendship had been sunk. And finally, the largest stab was for Lisa; the first friend she’d lost and the one whom she’d betrayed, all because she had been too weak to accept who she was and how she felt. She lowered her gaze when she replied in a deflated voice, “none of them.”

 _Holy shit, Princess, you’ve already driven all your friends away…_ Shego had not been prepared for that answer and suddenly felt a rare flash of empathy for the girl. _I’ve reached that particular destination too, only my road was probably slightly different._ “We don’t exactly foster friends do we; people like us, I mean,” she began, before taking a drink of her own Long Island iced tea. “Prior to the whole comet incident, I wasn’t exactly little miss popular and afterwards, only two people were willing to be my friend… but I drove them away.”

Kim stopped with her glass halfway to her mouth as she listened to Shego talk. _She never talks about her past; ever. So, why now?_ And she knew a thing or two herself about driving friends away. Now slightly curious, she took only a small sip this time and allowed the green-skinned woman to continue.

“When I went to high school, there was this group of other misfits I used to sometimes hang out with, but I never counted them as friends.” Shego laughed as a memory of the individuals managed to escape her trash heap. “In fact, I was definitely not friends with one of the girls; Terri. I tolerated Bobby and Jeff; the two boys. No one liked Katrina and Kitty was basically the group pet.”

Kim couldn’t help herself and burst out laughing. “What?” she exclaimed, as she tried to contain herself. “Why on earth did you hang out with people you didn’t really like?” _And why is she telling me this?_

Shego smiled internally. She had not planned on the comment eliciting such a response, but if it bought her some extra time, she did not mind having shared that extra snippet of her past. “I used to ask myself that same question all the time,” she laughed and a grin formed on her face. “I suppose in hindsight, when compared to my brothers, they weren’t that bad.”

Managing to suppress another laugh, Kim forced her expression to once more harden. “Why are you telling me this?” she asked, successfully dropping the temperature of her words, before taking another mouthful of her drink.

Slightly annoyed that she was now back on the clock, Shego still chose to ignore her rival’s comment, for now at least and finished the brief history of her friendships. “After high school, I made a grand total of one other friend while in college, but like all of yours, that friendship ended.” Even though it had only been a mild reference, the mere mention of her college days was enough to bring about the image of a sassy blonde-haired girl and Shego could not stop the resultant bitterness from seeping into her tone.

Though the green-skinned woman had tried to hide it, Kim could hear the resentment in her voice. _That friendship definitely ended badly,_ her mind then immediately recalled the events inside the Sloth when they had arrived back in Middleton from the penitentiary, _and I’m willing to bet the individual in question is the girl Danni she was dreaming about._ She forced the thought from her mind, _no, I don’t care enough to ask about it. I’m leaving the moment I finish this,_ she took another mouthful from the glass, which now only contained a quarter of the beverage.

When Kimmie did not pass commentary, Shego quickly moved on. “The whole point is, people like you and I struggle to have friends, as normal people just don’t understand us.” She met the hero’s gaze, her own daring the fiery-haired vixen to dispute that point. “The fact you and the buffoon remained friends for so long, especially after you started the whole teen heroine gig, is nothing short of astounding.”

“Ron and I were still great friends long after I started doing hero work,” Kim spat, refuting the claim. “The only reason we’re no longer friends is because we made the mistake of becoming a couple.” She lifted her glass, took a drink and then said, “you’re almost out of time, Shego and so far, it seems all you’ve done is stall for more that you’re not going to get.”

Shego’s emerald gaze met with the liquid line inside Kimmie’s glass and knew that at best she had two mouthfuls worth of time remaining. She sighed, “I’m guessing you’re only just finding this out. After all, you managed to convince yourself that you were a basic, average girl until the end of high school. I’d ask you when you finally admitted to yourself that you’re not, but as you so astutely pointed out, I’m running short of time.”

While everything her rival had just said was true, it did not stop Kim sizing up the remainder of her Long Island iced tea out of spite. Alas, she couldn’t down the last of the beverage and so had to be content with drinking half of it. “One mouthful left, Shego.”

 _Dammit!_ “Look, the point is, I was only eight when I received my glow and figured all this out. I’ve spent the past twenty years fending off friend requests from people I know will just end up fucking off because they can’t understand me. And the one persistent bastard that finally wore me down eventually did the same,” she could not reign in her anger at the second reference to Danni. “That’s why I don’t do friends and why I was automatically so hostile towards you for mentioning it tonight…” she paused, took a quick sip of her drink and then said sincerely once more, “I’m sorry, Kim. You didn’t deserve that.”

Glass halfway between the table-top and her mouth, Kim stared at her rival. “You already apologised,” she replied, although the woman’s words had certainly softened her own. “Unfortunately, it’s not enough…” she paused, her brain scrambling to cobble together the explanation to go with a statement she had not known she had been going to utter. _What the hell do I even mean by that?_ Completely unprepared, she found herself doing exactly what she had earlier claimed to her younger self she was best at; she improvised. “Our relationship first started to get complicated that night of my junior prom; when I kicked you into that electrical tower. And whether you like it or not, we were genuine friends during that week you were Miss Go, which only served to further mess things up. You also saved my life twice before that and again a few weeks ago. Not to mention everything else that’s happened over the past two months.”

Shego couldn’t help but laugh slightly, “yeah, once upon a time, we had such a simple hero/villain relationship. And then things got screwed up.”

“Yeah…” Kim sighed in agreement, “except I think what happened inside Drakken’s volcano lair has messed it up irreparably. So, if the only option is for us to hit the reset button and go back to our old hero/villain dynamic, then I’d rather we just did that, put an end to whatever this was supposed to be tonight and go home.”

When Kimmie finished and her eyes darted between the remainder of her drink and herself, Shego got the distinct impression that the hero had perhaps not wanted to divulge that much of her thoughts on the matter. _Whether she meant it or not, that’s the first indication she’s given me that what happened in the volcano lair is bothering her, but if I understand her correctly, not in a bad way. Otherwise, she’d have already pushed the reset button… no, returning to our old hero/villain dynamic is the last thing she wants… and I’m not overly keen on it either._ “That’s not what you want, is it?” Shego then asked, deciding she needed to ensure they were on the same page this time.

Kim eyed the dregs of her beverage, part of her tempted to drink it and be done with the whole affair, to save herself from the excess pain she’d tried to avoid when she’d initially left. “We don’t seem to have any other choice,” she replied with a dollop of regret. “I’m not ready to sleep with someone, but you don’t want to be friends.”

Having initially only latched onto half of Kimmie’s earlier comment and automatically bitten back with her, _“I don’t do friends,”_ line, Shego had failed to properly appreciate what the hero had originally said. _She’s gone from, “I can’t have sex with you,” to, “I’m not ready to have sex with someone.” Which is a huge difference, but, ironically, not the most important thing. The simple fact is, she assumed that’s what I want and while she is right, she originally gave me no room to negotiate._ “Of course you’re not ready to sleep with someone yet,” she finally said, trying to sound as reassuring as she could.

In the moment’s silence that had lingered after her assertion of where they stood, Kim had slowly brought her glass to her lips and had been about to drink the last of her Long Island iced tea; to put an end to the whole business, when Shego’s words reached her ears. “Wait, what?” she said, the thought having been so loud inside her head it managed to voice itself. _Did she seriously just say what I think she did?_ She stared at Shego’s expression, saw the confirmation written all over it and carefully started to lower her glass. _She’s being serious… but how the hell can she be serious? This doesn’t make any sense._ Kim took a deep breath before saying, “wait a minute, back up. How can you want to sleep with me, but then say that you know I’m not ready to sleep with someone?”

If it were not for the fact that Kimmie was only a single mouthful away from leaving, Shego would have burst out laughing. Instead, she restrained herself to only a light chuckle. “Easy, Princess. It’s like if I wanted to eat a chocolate souffle, but had only just put it in the oven; it takes time before it’s going to be ready. I still want to eat it, but I’m willing to wait until it’s cooked.” When she had finished the metaphor, she quickly added, “besides, I never actually said anything about wanting to sleep with you tonight, you inferred that all by yourself… and then I screwed up before I could correct you.”

While she had tried not to entertain it prior to coming out, Kim felt a spark of hope that maybe, just maybe, they would not have to return to their simple hero/villain dynamic. However, she quickly quashed it, _no, even if she’s prepared to wait on me ‘cooking’ before she tries to sleep with me, that doesn’t change the fact that she doesn’t do friends._ “I’m right though, aren’t I; about you still wanting to sleep with me? You pretty much just said so.”

 _Well, she already knows, so there’s little point in hiding it._ “You’re cute, sexy and tick all my boxes, Cupcake. So, yes, I wouldn’t mind finding out if you could keep up with me in the bedroom as well as on the battlefield.”

Even though she’d had this knowledge for weeks, actually hearing her rival say it made the entire thing a different prospect for Kim. _Oh crap, she wants to sleep with me! Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!_ As she struggled to take a normal breath, the hero felt her heart rate increase slightly. _Dammit, Kim, get a hold of yourself. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if she wants to sleep with you._ She again felt a small part of her say that if it guaranteed her Shego’s friendship, she would seriously consider the notion, as she replied, “but you still won’t be my friend.” Kim raised her glass in preparation for the response that would once again bring an end to the discussion and see her swallow the final mouthful. And having come full circle again, she wished she could have simply walked away and not be coerced back to the table by her own stubbornness and inability to resist a challenge laid down by the green-skinned woman.

It was abundantly clear to Shego that she had finally steered the conversation back around to the last chance saloon. She could see Kimmie already preparing to finish her beverage so she could leave and knew that the two of them were at a crossroads in their relationship and for the moment, the ball was in her court. In the back of her head, she heard an echo of Miss Go’s words from earlier, _“you knew there would be a cost and you said you were willing to pay it.”_ She took a long drink from her glass. _I know the cost, but I hope Kimmie is at least willing to haggle a little._ “Listen, Kim, even if you don’t want to admit it, you know I’m right about people like us not doing well when it comes to having friends. Not to mention that we’re hero and villain; nemeses.” She let out a mirthless laugh, “heh, we literally spend the majority of our encounters trying to beat one another up. And despite what common interests we might have, I’m not sure we could ever be friends.”

Kim listened to her rival’s explanation and while she wholeheartedly disliked it, Shego was at least giving her genuine reasons as to why she did not wish for them to be friends this time. But that did not change the fact that she felt they could somehow work around those issues. And so, with them still at odds, she knew she had only one option. Raising her glass to her lips, she drank the last of her Long Island iced tea and then sat the empty vessel down on the table with a light thud that felt so definitive and final. “I understand what you mean, Shego. And so I hope you understand why I need to leave.”

Watching the last of her time disappear, Shego knew it was now or never. “No, you don’t understand, Kim,” she said before the fiery-haired vixen had managed to rise. “While I stand by the idea that I’m not sure we can ever be friends,” she paused to take a breath, feeling herself forcibly break through the restrictions she’d placed upon her Shego persona six years prior. _This is what I want to do._ She met Kimmie’s gaze, “I’m willing to give frenemies a try.”

So certain that she had known what her rival’s response was going to be, Kim found herself halfway to her feet before Shego’s words properly registered with her. _Wait, did she just say…_ Her butt hovered a foot above the seat for a moment or two before it finally conformed to the will of gravity and she slid back down onto it. “What do you mean by frenemies?” she asked warily, however, internally, she was struggling to hold back the confetti cannons and stop herself from doing backflips. _Oh my god, she’s willing to give frenemies a try! While it’s not outright friendship, it is surely more than our basic hero/villain relationship and that’s a start!_

Having half expected her suggestion to be met with contempt or outright rejection, Shego was therefore caught somewhat unawares by Kimmie’s question and, given that she hadn’t thought this through properly, did not quite know how to answer. “Umm,” she said stupidly, after a moment’s hesitation. “Well, when we’re working, we’re very much still enemies,” _yeah, that at least makes sense and is something she should agree with._

“Ok…” Kim agreed hesitantly, sensing that Shego was not entirely sure how being frenemies might work. “So, when Drakken eventually gets out of jail and you go back to working for him, he tries to take over the world and I show up to stop him; kicking your butt in the process.” She couldn’t help but laugh slightly at that notion.

A sour expression formed on Shego’s face. She did not like being reminded of the distasteful fact that Kimmie had beaten her far more times than she had her. Unfortunately, it came with the job. If she wanted Drakken to fail, so he had to try all over again and thus she got to fight the hero repeatedly, she had to lose. Yeah, the bulk of her rival’s victories prior to the Lil’ Diablos incident had been because she herself had been holding back. However, since that night, she no longer had that small conciliation. “You mean when Drakken tries to take over the world, I’ll keep letting you win, yeah. However, that should be **if** he manages to get out of jail.”

“What do you mean **if** he gets out of jail?” Kim asked quizzically. “This is Drakken we’re talking about. He’ll find a way out sooner or later.”

“Don’t count on it this time, Princess,” Shego replied matter-of-factly. “You saw how beefed up the security around that place is now and Brooks will definitely have it upped again after losing her prize inmate.”

“Then he’ll get out when you decide to break him out,” Kim replied, already resigned to the fact that if her arch-foe did not find some other way out, then eventually, her rival would return to liberate him.

“Not this time,” Shego said coldly, the memory of her recent incarceration and the hollow feeling that had come with having her glow suppressed still fresh in her mind.

Kim looked at the green-skinned woman in confusion, “wait, what? Why not?” _Why on earth wouldn’t she break him out?_ “I know he bugs the hell out of you and that last time you got out of jail you went on vacation to get away from him, but I thought sooner or later you’d help him out.”

“I just told you; Brooks has turned that place into a fortress, so the chances of me getting caught have increased markedly. And if I get caught, I end up straight back in cellblock D and I’m not going back to jail for anyone!” Shego spat, unable to stop a small kernel of fear from slipping into her voice. “Despite what you might try to tell yourself, both you and I have our limits.”

Had she not already detected it in her rival’s tone, one glance at those brilliant emerald eyes told Kim all she needed to know; Shego was afraid of going back to prison. _I never thought she’d be scared of anything._ However, given her recent nightmares, it was a sentiment to which she could relate; a fear of ending up inside a prison cell and under the supervision of Captain Brooks. Indeed, this shared feeling encourage her not to mention the observation. Instead, she chose to focus on the green-skinned woman’s latter point. “Since when did you conform to the belief that we have limits?” Kim said, both slightly bewildered and irritated at the suggestion. _I’m the girl who can do anything._

“After the two incidents with those Lorwardian Bastards, when we had to rely on a trick by your brothers and weird monkey-shit from the buffoon to save our asses,” Shego replied bitterly. “Like it or not, Kimmie, if nothing else, those two fights should have taught you that there are limits in regards to what we can do.”

Despite how much she wanted to argue the point, Kim knew that Shego was correct; even working together, they’d needed help to drive the Lorwardian’s off on both occasions. Nevertheless, she still countered, “believing I can do anything is how I manage to do what I do.”

“I know and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s the ‘aim for the treetops and you’ll never get there, but aim for the stars and you’ll reach the treetops’ proverb,” Shego said and then looked pointedly at her rival. “You never really dedicated much time to martial arts training while in high school, simply used your missions as a way to keep your skills sharp, correct?”

“Something like that,” Kim answered, not yet seeing her rivals point. “Cheer practice was always enough to hone my gymnastics skills. The martial arts just came naturally to me, thanks to my Nana Possible secretly teaching me all the necessary muscle memory when I was a kid.”

Shego laughed, “so, you do get it from her. I’d suspected as much after Drakken found out about your Nana and her exploits, given that a background check on yourself revealed no history in martial arts. However, when it transpired you knew nothing about her history, your abilities once more became unexplained.”

“Believe it or not, I only discovered where my abilities come from earlier this week; after talking with my mom,” Kim chuckled. “Anyway, that aside, what do my high school activities have to do with anything?”

“Because I’ll bet you another Long Island iced tea that you started training all your skills after either the first or second Lorwardian attack,” Shego said matter-of-factly. “Probably the latter, as I didn’t see much evidence of you training when I spent that week living with you.”

Kim looked at her rival in amazement. “How on earth do you know that?” she said, for it was true. After the events of her high school graduation and requiring Ron to save her from the clutches of Warhawk, she had started training her martial arts skills; along with her other abilities, as the event had provided her with irrefutable proof that there were beings stronger than her in existence.

“Because I started training for the first time in years after that she-Lorwardian beat me senseless and took me prisoner,” Shego growled, her ego having taken a severe bruising that day. “Over the years, the power of my glow had made me complacent and I stopped training. Even when you reached my level that night of your junior prom, I still didn’t think I needed to get stronger. Then that Lorwardian showed up and kicked my ass; both our asses. After that, I realised I needed to start training again, in case either she came back or you decided to do so for the same reason. I couldn’t have you being able to genuinely beat me now, could I?”

Kim grinned at her rival. “We both know I can beat you in a fair fight, even if you’re using your glow.”

“Oh yeah,” Shego replied hotly. “Care to put that to the test when next we dance, Princess?”

“Love to,” Kim accreted and their gazes locked; olives meeting emeralds in a clash that illustrated the competitiveness that would forever underline whatever else their relationship might be. 

“Then I guess we’re going back to your old stomping ground after we’re done here,” Shego stated, though there had probably been no need; the wordless communication between their stares having already decided that.

While the strength of the urge to once more dance with the green-skinned woman was akin to the attractive force between protons and electrons, Kim knew she had to put the brakes on the matter, at least until she knew whether or not she could remain around Shego. “That depends on whether we can come to an agreement,” she said, her tone containing a slight edge born from her apprehension. 

Kimmie’s words served as a reminder to Shego that she still had to find a compromise that they could both agree to. So, she chose to return to the original point. “Drakken aside, if it’s a scheme I’ve got going by myself, for example, if I decided to try my hand at stealing the three cats and you decide to stick your nose in, I’ll come at you with everything I’ve got.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Kim replied smugly. “In fact, I’ll look forward to it.” The gleam of desire she saw in her rival’s eyes told her that whether they could reach some sort of frenemies agreement or not, they both yearned for that dance. Her tone then turned slightly wary again when she said, “however, us being enemies, you throwing the fight so I can stop Drakken but then coming at me full force when you’re working by yourself is exactly as things are now. What makes being frenemies any different?” After she had finished, she then quickly added, “and what the hell are the three cats? You’re not thinking about becoming a crazy cat lady, are you?”

“I’m getting to that,” Shego said sharply, largely because she was making this up on the fly, “and do I look like the crazy cat lady sort to you?”

“Well,” Kim said with a chuckle, “I’ve always thought you were a bit crazy, given you both work for and have lived with Drakken.” A wide grin then formed on her face. “However, I suppose you’re already a crazy naked-mole-shark lady, so I guess you have no need for real cats.”

Shego pursed her lips in indignation and did well to bite back a rebuttal, at least until Kimmie began to laugh. “It’s not my fault that sneaky little sod stowed away inside my jacket and knows how to do that infuriating puppy-dog-pout of yours!”

Kim’s laughter intensified for a moment, however, she quickly managed to reign it in so she could poke her rival again. “What, this pout?” she said and quickly formed the expression in question on her face.

The sight of Kimmie doing her infamous puppy-dog-pout almost caused Shego to explode. _Urgh, why does she have to be so insufferably cute!_ Unfortunately, the hero was not done.

“Pwease let me stay, Shego,” Kim said, imitating Ru-Ru, only slightly more articulately. “Cheese, rah-rah-rah.”

“ARGH!” Shego yelled, the impersonation of the naked-mole-shark finally tipping her over the edge. “Why do you have to be so insufferably cute?” she then barked without thinking.

Kim did not so much as flinch at her rival’s somewhat savage barrage. Instead, her heart skipped a beat and a giddy feeling washed over her. “So, you think I’m cute, good to know,” she replied with a healthy dose of sass. _Heh, and insufferably so too._ After she uttered the line, it took her a moment to regain proper control of herself. _Calm down, Kim, what she thinks about you doesn’t matter right now. Besides, it’s not as if you’re looking to go out on a date with her…_ she had to leave the thought there or risk her brain having another meltdown.

Shego’s cheeks turned dark green and taking a large drink of her Long Island iced tea was all she could do to stop herself from digging herself a deeper hole. _You absolute moron, Shego. One look and a few words and she causes you to lose your head. Just concede the point on this one and move on._ “I also forgot incredibly **annoying** ,” she finally retorted. “And before you jump to any more conclusions, the three cats are the collective name given to three very rare coloured diamonds: the Crimson Cheetah, Jade Jaguar and Tangerine Tiger.”

“Dually noted,” Kim said and could not help but smile at the raven-haired woman. “So, when I’m not stopping you from stealing some shinny stones, where does that leave us?” 

_Shit, what do I offer her?_ Shego thought, wracking her brain for options. _Sleepovers and trips to the mall… yeah right._ With little time to come up with a better idea, she replied, “things stay as they are when we’re working, however, when we’re off the clock, we can meet up here occasionally for drinks.”

It was only on hearing this offer that it dawned on Kim that they had effectively entered into negotiations. What exactly they were both bartering with or indeed for, she did not quite know. Only, _I’ve never been this close to some sort of friendship with her since the Miss Go incident and I will **not** let this opportunity slip through my fingers. However, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to play hardball. _“Not good enough,” she said firmly and slid her empty glass towards the centre of the table by way of indicating she might walk again.

 _Goddammit, Princess,_ Shego cursed internally at the hero’s decision not to accept her opening offer. Yet by the same virtue, a thin smile formed on her lips, _heh, I suppose I would have been disappointed if she’d just rolled over._ She met her rival’s gaze. “Ok, Kimmie, for once let’s be straight with one another,” Shego chuckled at her own joke.

While definitely not one-hundred-percent comfortable with her new-found sexual preferences, Kim couldn’t help but laugh at her rivals joke. “Fine by me, though I seriously doubt either of us can be straight with anyone… and I’ve tried.”

Both women burst out laughing at the hero’s reply. When they could finally see straight, or perhaps in their case gay and managed to contain themselves, Kim found herself feeling somewhat self-conscious at having made the joke and at the truth behind it. A reminder of why she’d wanted to meet with her rival in the first place.

A quick look at Kimmie’s expression told Shego that the hero had inadvertently stepped out with her comfort zone. “We’ll talk about how you are feeling in a bit; promise,” she said, channelling her inner Miss Go and recalling the ‘therapy session’ she’d had with Bonnie while in prison. “However, in the meantime, let’s get you another drink and order some food.”

“No,” Kim cut in, having recovered from her brief internal crisis. _If I let her order drinks and food now, that’ll indicate that I’m happy to stay and I lose my leverage._ “I want to know what exactly it is you are offering and in exchange for what, before I agree to anything. Like you just said, be straight with me.”

Shego let out a sigh and could feel the damaged restraints of her Shego persona try to re-manacle her. _This is what I want,_ she repeated to herself, more forcefully this time. “You want to be friends, but I genuinely don’t think that’s possible. So, I’m willing to meet you halfway and give frenemies a try,” she reiterated, leaving nothing chance, given how easily they had misunderstood each other last time they’d been in this particular bar. “When working, we’re both on the clock Monday to Friday. During that time, we’re enemies, end of story. However, between clock-out time on Friday night and clock-in time on Monday morning, I’m willing to try socialising with you.” She stopped short of using the words ‘being friends’; the idea of her having a friend still difficult to process, which included the weird sort of semi-friendship she apparently had with Bonnie.

 _Holy shit, she’s willing to spend time with me at weekends!_ While internally ecstatic, Kim did not let it show, for she had no intention of letting Shego know her feelings until she had wrung every last concession she could out of her rival and because she did not yet know if she could afford the inevitable cost. “Every weekend?” she asked, though it was more a request than a question.

Shego rolled her eyes at Kimmie’s nerve, _damn, she’s not going to settle for just the minimum._ “Urgh, fine, every weekend that we’re **both** free. I do have other things I like to do, you know.” _At least if we’re socialising that frequently it should hopefully take her less time to become comfortable enough to engage in some saucy fun. Besides, with Dr D still in jail, it’ll allow me to fight with her without the need to go on a crime spree._ She then laughed internally. _Heh, this might not be a bad idea after all. And if I’d not been so damn pissed off at her for leading me on last time, maybe I’d have seen the opportunity that was there._ Her brain quickly corrected her on that last point. She had not been near ready for any sort of break out from the confines of her Shego persona the last time they’d been here.

Kim could not prevent a smile from forming on her lips, as she had a sneaking suspicion that she’d won the concession so easily because her rival too liked the idea of them socialising frequently. She then laughed internally, _I’m normally that bored at the weekends that I either don’t bother coming home or do another mission. Guess I’ll be making sure I’m done with work at an appropriate time on a Friday night from now on. Heh, Betty’s going to be pulling her hair out when she eventually deduces I’ve stopped working weekends altogether._ “I like the sound of that, but you’re not going to give me it for free, are you?”

Resisting the urge to say, _“doy, Princess,”_ Shego knew that the entire thing could still fall apart if she did not phrase her request properly. _While I know she desperately wants what I’m offering, she’s liable to run a mile if I tell her that she’ll have to strip off and bend over for me in order to get it._ “I thought it might be fun to sleep with you last time we were here,” she began carefully, “and after our little make-out session in Dr D’s volcano lair, I definitely want another taste of Kim Possible.”

“Ok…” Kim said tentatively, feeling a strange mix of panic and desire start to build inside her. _Oh, God, what if she wants to make out again?_ and she did not know to which that thought belonged.

Shego could see the apprehension and worry; mixed with longing begin to from on Kimmie’s face and she knew her deduction had been correct. _She’s genuinely concerned that she won’t be able to agree to my terms. But I’ve got a hunch she’ll try to force herself to do so regardless and if she does, it’ll be a disaster. Guess it’s time to play the long game._ “Listen, Kimmie, we both know what I want, but we both know that you are nowhere near ready to go there.” When she saw the anguish begin to spread across her rival’s face, she quickly added, “and there’s no shame in that, nor am I going to coerce you into something you’re not ready for by dangling a juicy carrot in front of your nose.”

Relief began to wash over Kim as she listened to what Shego had to say and she knew that the green-skinned woman had been right; so long as she had not put full-blown sex back on the table, she would probably have forced herself to agree to her terms. However, that still begged the question, “what do you want then?”

“I’ve been where you are; did some of my firsts with guys before I finally figured out that I’m a lesbian,” Shego said, hoping that by empathising with her rival and indicating they had similar histories, that her suggestion would seem more palatable. “Once I did discover that I’m gay, I found myself back at square one and had to slowly work my way through all those firsts again, only this time with a girl. And given the issues you’ve had with accepting that you’re gay, I suspect you’re going to be the same. So, instead of you struggling to find another girl who’s willing to help a baby gay take her first steps, why don’t you take them with me?”

Even though she suspected that her rival had watered down her request and phrased it in the least threatening way possible, Kim could not help but feel both apprehensive and self-conscious about it. _What does she mean by that? Does she still want to sleep with me?_ Underneath the table, she could feel her left leg begin to twitch and she sorely wished she had not stopped Shego from ordering those drinks. _Will this mean I’m in a relationship with her? Oh, God, I can’t end up in a relationship with another woman and certainly not with Shego. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!_

Shego could immediately see that even her gentle approach had started to induce minor panic in her rival. _Damn, she’s in a worse state than I would have imagined and I’ll bet it’s linked to why she fought so violently against the idea she’s gay in the first place. Mental note; find out the reason for that when we move onto that subject later. However, for now, I need to hose her down before that fire burns down her half of the bridge._ “We wouldn’t be in a relationship,” she began, sensing that point would be contributing significant fuel to said fire. Hell, even she did not like the idea of them being in a relationship. “We’ll start by simply talking through some stuff, like you wanted to tonight and only graduate onto the physical side of things, such as kissing, once you feel ready and then move at whatever pace you’re comfortable with.”

Kim managed to take some slow, calming breaths, as Shego’s words did their job and helped her to settle down. “You won’t pressure me into making-out with you, getting naked or sleeping with you?” she asked, needing direct confirmation that her rival would not do any of the aforementioned things.

Shego gave Kimmie a rare, kind smile. “Of course not. Remember, I’ve been where you are and know how hard it is to accept that something so fundamental about yourself is a lie. I also haven’t forgotten how difficult it is to become comfortable with your new self after you finally admit to yourself that you’re gay, or how challenging it can be to start experimenting with another woman.” She chuckled slightly as she added, “and trust me, you might think you’re a million miles away from feeling comfortable enough to start getting physical with another woman, but sooner or later, your curiosity will get the better of you and you’re going to want to try it. So, why not do it with someone who understands you as a person?”

Her heart rate having now settled and left leg ceased its twitching, Kim stared into Shego’s emerald eyes for any hint of a lie or deception. _I think she’s being genuine…_ Two months ago, that thought, along with the event that had resulted in it, would have seemed completely impossible to her and if she’d sat and listened to her rival talk to her in such a way, she would have been convinced that she was simply dreaming about spending one last night with Miss Go. _…but this isn’t a dream. Shego is both willing to be my frenemy **and** help me with my continuing journey of self-discovery. _However, despite this, she still felt compelled to ask firmly, “this isn’t a trick, is it? I haven’t forgotten that you and Drakken messed with my emotions once before; as part of his Lil’ Diablos plan.”

“It’s not a trick, Kim,” Shego replied, matching her rival’s stare and using her preferred given name to once more indicate her sincerity. “Besides, I haven’t forgotten I was the one who got kicked into an electrical tower because of something Drakken did; I was oblivious until such a time as he recalled that Synthodrone.”

Kim already knew this to be true; she’d been unable to stop herself confronting Miss Go over the issue. They’d spoken at length one night about the whole incident, although at the time, she had been unable to admit that she’d felt the urge to kill her rival. That part of the tale had not come out until eight weeks ago; during their fight in the Middleton High playing fields. “I’m sorry for what I did to you that night. For trying to kill you and kicking you into that electrical tower,” she said honestly. Even though they had apologised to one another when her rival had been Miss Go, Kim couldn’t help but see if Shego would reciprocate; a test to see how far their relationship had strayed from their old hero/villain dynamic.

Like everything else they had done together when she had been Miss Go and despite her attempts to bury it all in her memory trash heap, Shego could recall perfectly the long conversation she’d had with Kimmie about the events surrounding her junior prom. _She already apologised for what she did that night, even if she neglected to tell me that she’d felt the urge to kill me. Why is she doing so again? Does she think I’ve forgotten?_ A glance at the hero’s olive-green eyes told her that was not the case. It did not take her long to figure it out. _Heh, very clever, Princess. You want to see if I’ll reciprocate._ For what she suspected would not be the last time, Shego found herself in two minds about how to respond. After a moment or two and draining the last of her Long Island iced tea, she decided the bridge between them could use a few more support bricks. “While I may not have known what Drakken had done beforehand, I’m sorry for what part I did play in that scheme and for gloating when we unmasked that Synthodrone.”

Having genuinely not known on what side the coin would land in terms of whether or not her rival would choose to apologise, Kim found herself slightly taken aback to hear those words coming from a Shego in her right mind. _Wow… I think she feels it too… that shift in our relationship that has led us to where we currently are. She might still try and deny it, but this isn’t just about her wanting one quick taste of me._ Kim met Shego’s gaze and then said softly, “thank you. And I want to accept your proposal, however,” she let out a sigh and made a silent prayer that she detected no lie in her rivals next answer.

“However?” Shego asked apprehensively. _Fuck, anything said before however is normally a load of shit. After everything we’ve just talked through, am I about to lose her anyway?_ While the small voice in the back of her head was still yelling that it would be for the best, the majority of her now dreaded that outcome.

“However, I need to know one more thing?” Kim said, _otherwise there is no way I can agree to this._

Somehow Shego managed to maintain her cool when she replied, “which is?”

 _Come on, Shego, I need you to say yes to option one here._ “Are you proposing that we become frenemies because, despite your belief that we can’t be actual friends, you still want to be my friend, or is this simply a concession you’re making so I might eventually sleep with you?”

For a moment, Shego said nothing, simply stared into those beautiful olive-green eyes and could tell how important the answer to this question was to Kimmie. _Shit, I can’t lie to her on this one… I guess it’s time to tell her the truth._ Taking a drink of her cocktail, followed by a deep breath, she began, “if I could have gotten away with it, then it would simply have been a concession.”

Kim’s face fell on hearing those words and she could feel the bottom falling out on the entire situation. _No…_ she whispered to herself in disbelief, _…all she wanted was to sleep with me…_ It was only by virtue of the fact that her rival sounded like she intended to come clean, that she managed to say, “at least you’ve got the decency not to lie to me.”

Shego knew how her words must have sounded and swiftly moved to mitigate the potential damage. “Let me finish, Kim. This isn’t about whether I would have lied to you or not. When I said if I could have gotten away with it, I was referring to lying to **myself** not you.”

“What do you mean by that?” Kim asked, now finding herself in no-man’s-land when it came to what her rival might be about to say.

“If I could have gotten away with it, I would have lied to myself that I was simply making a concession, so I could have the chance of sleeping with you,” she paused, feeling the internal battle wage inside her mind once more. She chose to storm directly across the battlefield. “However, the truth is, even though you bug the hell out of me sometimes; especially with how prissy you used to be **and** the fact you’re a damn hero, you’re fun to hang out with and I do actually like you.”

Kim could not believe that Shego, in her right mind, had just made such an admission. And she could see in the woman’s eyes that it had taken her a lot to do it. “You like me,” she breathed, still feeling completely stunned, “since when?”

Shego rolled her eyes. _Well, the naked-mole-shark’s out of the bag now, might as well tell her the whole truth._ “You started to grow on me a little after you genuinely beat me the night of your junior prom. It had been such a long time since I’d fought someone and been genuinely beaten. And then when I was Miss Go, I got to know you as a person, not just an enemy. That’s what I was about to tell you when the buffoon and Drakken broke the reverse polarizer and I changed back to Shego; that I like you.”

“I knew it,” Kim uttered slowly. “I spent days going over our time together and trying to figure out what you might have been about to say that you could never have said while you were Shego and that’s what I always kept coming back to. However, you’d reverted to your normal self and so I chose to bury it in order to move on from the whole incident.”

“Yeah, well breathe a word of that to anyone and I’ll shove plasma balls so far up your ass, you’ll be spitting them back out,” the green-skinned woman replied, feeling a need to assert the fact that she was very much still Shego.

Kim couldn’t help but laugh, which only intensified when she saw the look of infuriation spread across her rival’s face. She then held out her hand, “frenemies?” she asked.

Even though she’d just spent the better part of half an hour painstakingly working the conversation to this point, Shego still had trouble comprehending what she was about to agree to. _Guess there’s no turning back now. I’m in this for the long haul._ “Frenemies,” she said and shook Kimmie’s hand; both of them maintaining a firm grip until they mutually released it. “However, let me make one thing crystal clear.”

“What’s that?”

“Bar that one week I spent living with you, I was never, nor will I ever be that peppy Miss Go. She was simply a result of Electrinique’s stupid Reverse Polarizer messing with my mind,” Shego replied, _and the resultant pain in the ass that is my stupid devil’s advocate._

“Seriously?” Kim asked, surprised to hear her rival make such a claim, given she’d suspected that Miss Go was the person Shego would have been if she had not made evil choices. “Like, never, ever?”

Shego rolled her eyes, “ok, fine, so during the brief period I taught in a high school after I graduated from college, I used a persona similar to that of peppy Miss Go when at work. However, I only did it because I had no other choice and I never felt like me when doing it. So, don’t expect being frenemies with me to be like being friends with her, got it?”

“Got it,” Kim replied, finding this to be somewhat of a non-issue, given that she had thoroughly enjoyed her social encounters with Shego as herself.

A grin then spread across Shego’s face. “Besides, while you liked being Miss Go’s friend for a week, you would have eventually gotten bored with her tame nature, as she wouldn’t have been a challenge for you. Frenemies with me… that’s a completely different proposition. Now, can we please order some food and more drinks; I’m starving,” _not to mention my nerves feel shot to pieces and I need a strong cocktail._

Needless to say, it seemed that drinks and a chat had somehow morphed into something so much more between the hero and villain, something which had come about because they had done the unthinkable; they’d managed to compromise.

Kim laughed as a wide grin danced upon her lips. _Holy shit, I can’t believe Shego just agreed to be frenemies with me… or that I just agreed to work through the rest of my sexual awakening with her._ She had to silence the small voice that was trying to yell at her that she had agreed to eventually kiss, make out with and potentially do some sort of sexual acts with the green-skinned woman. _No matter how I wash it, she’s right; sooner or later, I’m going to become comfortable enough that I’ll get curious about what it feels like to get physical with another woman. And it’ll be so much easier if I don’t have to worry about the whole finding someone and asking them out drama._ “Ok,” she finally breathed deeply, “drinks and food sound good. However, I think my brain and my nerves need a break before we move onto lesbian stuff.”

She may have shared Kimmie’s sentiment, but Shego couldn’t help but laugh lightly. “That’s no surprise, Cupcake, given that you did just sign the start of your lesbian life away to yours truly.” Tossing her mane of raven hair, she rotated her shoulders backwards, which served to push her chest out.

Her face having already turned slightly red at the comment, Kim felt her cheeks darken when her eyes automatically drifted downwards to ogle her rival’s breasts. And she could not help but have the thought, _damn she’s so sexy in that outfit._ A small bubble of lust inflated and burst inside her and with the knowledge that, at some point in the future, she’d again be seeing those exquisite melons; possibly even touching them, she felt an echo of the desire she’d felt back in the volcano lair; to strip Shego out of her outfit so she could rub her hands all over her soft green skin. _Dammit, Possible, get a hold of yourself. Not only is it highly inappropriate to strip someone down to their underwear in public, but you’d probably freak out before you even got that romper over her shoulders. Remember, baby steps._

A wicked grin formed on Shego’s lips, as she watched Kimmie’s eyes linger on her breasts and cheeks turn scarlet. _Heh, I wonder what you’re thinking, Princess, as if I didn’t know._ Now that they had come to an agreement, she felt no guilt in toying with and teasing the hero. After all, wasn’t it in the girl’s best interests that she be subjected to as many lesbian moments as possible, in order to allow her newfound gay feelings to flourish? She raised a hand to signal a familiar waitress while she continued to drink in the girl’s embarrassment. “Why don’t we play one of your favourite games, Cupcake?”

At the sound of her rival’s voice, Kim tore her eyes away from the woman’s breasts and met with the wicked grin and a pair of gleaming eyes. Immediately alarm bells started to sound inside her head. _Uh oh, something tells me I’m not going to like this._ Unfortunately, she had to quickly suppress her unease, lest she betray those feelings to Shego. “What game?” she asked warily.

“It’s called, who would you rather kiss, the waitress who’s on route to take our food and drinks order or me?” Shego asked and sat back to watch the fireworks.

Like a pair of nano bombs had just gone off behind them, Kim’s cheeks exploded in a torrent of heat and burned crimson. “I can’t answer that!” she blurted out in a reprise of what she had said the last time Shego had asked her that question, a wave of embarrassment flooded over her. Eyes drifting over to glance at the woman to whom the green-skinned woman had referred, Kim realised it was the same one with the poufy blonde hair and ‘big melons’ that Shego had used the last time she had asked her this question.

“Come on, Kimmie,” Shego teased. “The facts haven’t changed; she’s hot, but we both know she’s got nothing on me. And you no longer have your _‘I like boys’_ lie to hide behind.”

“That’s so not fair, Shego!” Kim protested, desperately trying to escape giving her rival the answer she wanted, for she could not deny, in a straight shootout, she’d kiss Shego every time. “I don’t go around asking you if you’d rather kiss me or the waitress.”

“Maybe you should,” Shego said and licked her lips seductively. “However, there would be little point, unless you need me to explicitly say I’d pick you.” When Kimmie’s eyes narrowed and her lips pursed, she let out an exaggerated sigh. “Guess I’ll have to get the answer from you the hard way.” She arched her back and once more pushed her chest out.

So unused to staring at another woman’s breasts and finding the sight of Shego’s divine, Kim could not stop her eyes from wandering from emerald eyes to romper concealed tits. She felt the fires behind her cheeks intensify yet again when she realised what she was doing. “Will you stop doing that!” she hissed indignantly.

Shego flashed her rival a wicked grin. “Admit that you’d rather kiss me than her and I promise I won’t do it again,” _for at least the next half an hour._

“All right, fine,” Kim snapped, furious at her rival for catching her out so easily and at herself for not having better control over her wandering eyes. “I’d rather kiss you than the waitress.”

“Good girl,” Shego praised, like she would have a dog she was training. “Now, I hope you already know what you want to eat and drink, because you’ve wasted all your thinking time ogling me instead of looking at the menu.”

“Argh!” Kim exclaimed in infuriation, as she folded her arms; a sour look forming on her face. “I hate you sometimes.”

“Personally, I don’t know what you’re complaining about,” Shego replied airily. “After all, you were the one who wanted to be friends.”

And that was checkmate Kim realised. Effortlessly, Shego had just demonstrated exactly what she would be in for, as their frenemies relationship set off on its maiden voyage. And for the first time in a long time, she felt genuinely excited about all the twists and turns that lay in front of her. For she had never encountered anyone who was at least her equal in almost every area. _Heh, this is what I wanted I suppose. She’s going to push me to the edge, test my resolve and just generally infuriate me. And you know what, I’m going to do the exact same to her. So, bring it on, Shego._

A smug smile formed on Shego’s face as the waitress drew up at their table. _I guess Kimmie’s starting to realise just what she’s signed herself up for and that’s just in the frenemy department. However, there is zero chance of me getting this all my own way, as she already demonstrated with that damn Ru-Ru impersonation that she knows exactly how to get under my skin. I guess I’m in for an interesting ride… and I wouldn’t have it any other way._

The waitress took their order; mac and cheese with garlic bread and a mojito for Kim, while Shego opted for lemon and herb chicken with skinny fries and slaw and a Caribou Lou to drink. Afterwards, once the busty blonde who they had both agreed was hot but whom neither of them would wish to kiss if the other were also on the menu had departed, they sat in a comfortable silence; while they waited for their cocktails to arrive. Like they had just been engaged in one of their fierce dances, both were grateful for a few minutes breather. When the drinks finally arrived and they had both taken significant mouthfuls, Kim finally recommenced the duel.

“So, what are you going to do if not break Drakken out of jail?” the hero asked, having somewhat of a vested interest in the answer if her rival gave her any hint that she might go on a crime spree.

Shego looked pointedly at Kimmie. “What afraid I’ll run around stealing anything that isn’t nailed down with the most sophisticated nails money can buy?” she asked rhetorically and with a hint of sarcasm. “Don’t worry, Princess, come Monday morning, I’ll be heading out for a nice relaxing beach vacation.”

“Oh,” Kim exclaimed, although she should have anticipated that answer. _Dammit, if she’s already planned a vacation, it could be weeks before I see her again._ As soon as the thought filled her mind, she felt somewhat aggrieved that she had only just agreed to socialise with the green-skinned woman most weeks and that Shego would be unavailable for several from the off. “When are you planning to come back?”

While the fiery-haired vixen had phrased it as a simple question, Shego did not fail to pick up on the fact the girl clearly felt slightly put out and she could understand the sentiment. _Heh, I just agreed to socialise with her on a weekly basis and already I’m bailing. A cynic would say that doesn’t bode well for us going forward._ “I don’t know. I like to jet around a bit and Ru-Ru is desperate to make a pilgrimage to Holland so he can sample their cheeses.”

“Pilgrimage?” Kim chuckled; somewhat confused as to why her rival had used that particular term.

Shego rolled her eyes. “Because he’s become so obsessed with World of Cheese that he’s formed his own religion to worship Cheesus.”

Kim burst out laughing. “He caught you out with that one, didn’t he?”

“Something like that,” Shego said. “Anyway, I promised him if we ended up in Europe, I’d take him to Holland so he could get his cheese.”

“You’re taking him with you?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Shego asked. She’d quickly grown accustomed to having the naked-mole-shark around that she forgot that him living with her in the first place would be uncharacteristic enough as it was in Kimmie’s eyes, let alone the fact she planned to take him on vacation with her.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Kim began, choosing her words carefully, “but you’ve always come across as the solitary type. Hell, look how long it’s taken and how difficult it was for us to reach frenemies. By the sounds of it, Ru-Ru somehow snuck into your life and won you over within a day.”

“Hey, I’m perfectly sociable,” Shego fired back acridly, effectively disproving the lie she had just tried to spin.

Kim simply gave the green-skinned woman a knowing look.

“Ok, so I like the little guy,” Shego huffed. “He terrorized Drakken so much on day one that I almost died of laughter. Anyway, I can’t leave him at my place for weeks on end. I’d come home to find it trashed. So, he’s coming with me…” a wicked smile formed on her lips as a thought came to her, “…unless you want to babysit him for me?”

“Oh no, no way, forget it,” Kim said quickly, memories of the sneaky rodent-fish taking a bite out of her fingers quickly rising to the surface in her mind. “That little sod is more trouble than I care to deal with. Besides, if my mom found out I’d started babysitting, I’d come home to find she’d foisted the Tweebs onto me indefinitely. My apartment is a Tweeb-free zone!”

“Then I guess Ru-Ru is coming on vacation with me.” Shego took a sip of her drink and savoured the taste of the pineapple and coconut for a moment. “However, if you’re going to miss me that much, I can always jet back at the weekends; I’ll be borrowing Dr D’s spare hovercraft. Or I’m sure you could get yourself halfway around the world and back with ease.”

While Kim knew her rival had probably been joking, she decided she did not care. “Make it interesting and I’ll meet you anywhere you like. And if you’re lucky, I might even bring my battle suit.” _Shit, am I flirting with her again?_ She did not know the answer to that question, however, it quickly brought about another, _does it even matter now? I’ve already agreed to get physical with her at a later date, which by default must mean that I **like** her to a certain degree. _

_Ok, so now she is definitely flirting with me,_ Shego thought. _However, given the agreement we just came to, we can flirt with one another as much as we want. We both know the other is a lesbian, that we find one another attractive and that we’re eventually going to sleep with one another. But that’s as far as it’ll go. We both know that and are both happy with that fact, so, no problem._ “Don’t worry, Princess, I definitely have ways of making it interesting for you. However, I would have thought that battle suit of yours would have taken some serious damage after you threw us over that wall. How’d you explain that to Nerdlinger?”

Kim felt slightly hesitant to answer questions about the trump card in her arsenal. However, quickly realised that her rival would not likely post news that her battle suit was currently out of commission on villain.net. That and she reserved the battle suit for special occasions. The first few times she’d used it after the night of her junior prom having convinced her that it removed too much of the fun from her missions. Yes, the battle suit only came out when she felt the desire or need to be at her absolute enhanced peak. “I’ve still not told him I trashed it, as he’s too smart not to ask questions about the fact that it coincidently happened the same night you escaped from jail. I’ll probably wait another week or two and then wear it out on a mission and pretend it got damaged then.”

“Sounds like you at least thought that part through,” Shego replied, alluding to the fact that Kimmie had not made a plan for what she had intended to do with her had she still been zombified. A thought then came to her, “you did dispose of the attire I left in your car, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. I went out on a blue milk mission today and made a pit stop to disintegrate it,” Kim said, having genuinely forgotten about her rivals prison clothes until she’d climbed into the Sloth that morning. While not her normally cool and collected self yet, despite being on her fourth cocktail, she could feel the slight buzz that came from being well into the tipsy scale and so decided to move the conversation away from the jailbreak and onto a more relevant matter, “so, why did you decide to dress in that outfit tonight, give you were the one who stipulated this was to be drinks, a chat and some food only?”

Shego grinned at the fiery-haired vixen. “The same reason you decided to wear the ripped skinny jeans and black pullover that’s showing off your shoulders and delicious midriff,” she replied, deliberately trying to make the hero blush once more.

Kim managed to stop her cheeks from turning red for the umpteenth time by taking another sip of her cocktail. She then retorted, “you know fine well our outfits aren’t even on the same level when it comes to sex appeal, which means that there is no way we had the same thought when getting dressed tonight.”

“Didn’t we? Are you seriously telling me that you didn’t throw on jeans and a baggy t-shirt tonight for two reasons that were the exact same ones I had?”

“Which were?”

“First, you can’t resist competing with me, meaning you could not have let yourself come out dressed in something that I could top with no effort,” Shego began matter-of-factly. Before Kimmie could respond, she continued, “and second, while you were looking for something different, we both couldn’t help but think there was more to be gained from tonight.”

Realising that her rival had been spot on, Kim bit back any attempt to counter the point. Instead, she chose to rephrase her question in a more specific manner, “what exactly were you hoping would happen, that I’d see you dressed in that and decide I wanted to sleep with you?”

“Give yourself some credit, Princess,” Shego laughed. “I already told you, as a baby gay, I knew you would be nowhere near ready to sleep with anyone, let alone me. All I’d hoped to do was give you your first proper lesbian moment and plant the seed in your mind that you might like me. I never imagined that we’d find a way to come to a compromise between what we both wanted tonight.”

Kim laughed lightly, “if you’d asked me earlier this evening, I would have said that Drakken would take over the world before you and I would compromise.”

Shego swallowed a mouthful of her cocktail, she too now feeling the effects of the alcohol. “How about you? That outfit is definitely towards the sexy side of the ‘let’s be friends’ half of the wardrobe. What exactly went through your head?”

“Too many things,” Kim said through a slightly forced laugh, still unsure if she needed to keep her thinking to herself.

Shego gave Kimmie a pointed look, indicating that she expected more than that by way of an answer, given that she herself had already shared.

“Ok, ok,” Kim said long-sufferingly, “I already knew that you found me sexually attractive and after the volcano lair incident and figuring out that I’m a…” for the second time that night she found her tongue struggle with the L-word, however, this time forced herself to say it, “…a lesbian, I couldn’t figure out if I liked you in that way or not. I also didn’t know whether it was ok for me to like you in that way. In the end, I decided I just wanted to be your friend, but subconsciously picked this outfit as a way to leave the door ajar, in case I changed my mind at a later date.”

“Well, you certainly caught my attention,” Shego said. Maybe it was a result of the alcohol loosening her tongue somewhat, but she couldn’t help but say, “you look nice tonight, Kimmie.” _Fuck, I just complimented her and meant it._

The genuine nature of her rival’s compliment caught Kim off guard and she almost choked on a mouthful of her mojito. Coughing and spluttering for a few seconds, the thought, _did she just give me a genuine compliment,_ flashed through her brain. She ran the green-skinned woman’s words through her sarcasm detector and it came up clean. Clearing her throat, she met Shego’s gaze and could see that she was retrospectively in two minds about whether she should have said it or not, which left Kim with a decision of her own to make; sass or sincerity. “You look really nice too,” she replied; choosing the latter.

A somewhat awkward silence hung in the air between the hero and villain, as they struggled internally to accept what they both knew to be the establishment of a new normal between them, at least when it came to them being ‘off the clock’. Taking several sips of their respective cocktails each, they were spared the situation becoming uncomfortable by the timely arrival of their food.

Given it had been a while since either had last eaten, all it took was a declaration of, “I’m absolutely starving,” from Kim and a reply of, “that makes two of us,” from Shego, for them to wordlessly agree that decorum and manners could sod it. Resulting in them both attacking their meals with a similar ferocity that they would have one another.

However, halfway through and now feeling both a little calmer and drunker, Kim looked up from her mac and cheese and said, “I think I’m ok to start discussing the questions that necessitated tonight in the first place.”

“Fair enough,” Shego said after she finished swallowing a mouthful of her lemon and herb chicken. “I guess you’d better start, as if we sit in silence while we eat the rest of our mains and the dessert we’re inevitably going to order, we’ll still be talking come closing time.

Kim grinned, “I’ve got no problem with that. Maybe we can dance in the Middleton High playing fields as the sun rises.”

“You almost make that sound like it’s supposed to be romantic,” Shego laughed. _Heh, for us, beating the crap out of one another while the sun rises isn’t far from it._ “Before you start asking your questions, tell me where you’re at in regards to the whole thing.”

Given they had five years’ worth of trading sassy banter while fighting one another, as opposed to sharing intimate details about their personal lives, Kim could not help but suffer the initial knee jerk reaction and respond somewhat defensively. “Didn’t you figure all that out already? Wasn’t that the point of that damn comment you asked me back at the bar?”

Fully aware of how new and typically unnatural this situation was for the pair of them, Shego elected to hold back on the sass and sarcasm that would have typically laced her response. “That just gave me a general overview and served to cut through any bullshit you might have tried to sell. This time I want the details. For example, when you’re out in public, do you still feel like everyone who looks at you knows that you’re gay and is judging you because of it?”

Hearing her rival ask the question both told Kim that the particular feeling she’d just described had not been unique to her and by the same virtue, made her feel less insane at having experienced it in the first place. “I did at first,” she replied slowly, “…it was horrible.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Shego replied softly. “It might have been ten years ago, but I can still recall it vividly. How do you feel now?”

“I went out with my dad on Thursday and only when I was sitting alone at the table in Bueno Nacho did I feel it. I guess when my mind is focused on something, I’m able to block it out.”

“That’s good. How about tonight?”

Kim laughed lightly, “my mind was so focused on you, whether you would show up and what I wanted from tonight that it had no time to wander.”

Shego joined in with the hero’s laughter and the alcohol had loosed her tongue enough that she didn’t bat an eyelid when she replied, “that makes two of us. From the moment I climbed off of my bike, my brain couldn’t stop arguing with itself over whether I should have come. Heh, I almost didn’t set foot through the door when I caught sight of you sitting at the bar.”

“I’m glad you did,” Kim said sincerely. “If you hadn’t, I think we would have missed the opportunity tonight gave us.”

“I think you’re jumping the gun a little bit there, Princess,” Shego replied with a smirk. “We’ve got no idea what untold chaos our compromise might cause.”

“What, expecting to find it’s the apocalypse outside when we leave?”

“Or that Drakken’s both escaped from jail and now taken over the world.”

They stared at one another, both expressions brimming with mock seriousness… then at the same moment, they dissolved into a fit of hysterics. When eventually they could see straight once more, they started eating again but continued with the conversation.

“Better shoot with your first question, Kimmie,” Shego said and then added, “before Drakken’s Lil’ SynthoBebe’s or some other nonsense invention of his blow the door open and demand we submit to our new supreme overlord.”

They both laughed the somewhat uncontrollable laugh of two individuals who were descending into drunkenness.

When Kim had settled down once more, she chose to follow on from the initial question Shego had asked of her. “How do I become comfortable with the fact I’m…” there was only a short pause this time before she finished, “…gay?”

 _No surprise that’s the first thing she asked, as it was the first question I had; probably the same thing every baby gay wants to know once they figure out their sexual orientation._ “Unfortunately, I can’t answer that for you. There’s no trick or shortcut to it. It’s something that will happen slowly over time.”

Kim let out a deflated sigh. Truth be told, she’d already suspected as much, however, felt compelled to ask anyway; just in case. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

Shego could see immediately, even before Kimmie had replied, that she had not given the hero the answer she’d hoped for. Granted, that came as no surprise. In a situation like the one that both she and the hero had found themselves in; discovering something so fundamental about themselves was a lie, desperately trying to restore some feeling of comfort was only natural. “However, there are some things you can do that will help,” she began, feeling compelled to at least offer the hero something useful.

“Like what?” Kim asked quickly, still feeling somewhat desperate for some sort of solution.

“Talking helps,” Shego began. “I guarantee you’re feeling a little bit more comfortable already and should hopefully feel slightly more so by the time we leave tonight and it’ll have nothing to do with the alcohol.” She paused before saying point number two, given that in her experience, it had only made matters worse; though she knew that for others it did work. “Telling other people, especially those you are close to, will go a long way to making you feel comfortable with who you are. However, just be careful who you try to tell and if possible, try to be certain that you’re going to get a positive and supportive reaction. The last thing you need as a baby gay is someone to treat you horribly because of it.”

“Ok…” Kim said tentatively. While her rival’s first point definitely was helping and would hopefully continue to do so, especially given the fact she would now be able to talk to her regularly, the latter would be a bit of a sticking point.

Shego did not need to hear more than Kimmie’s hesitant response to ascertain the answer to her next question. “I’m still the only person that you’ve told and you’re worried about telling anyone else, including your parents.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Just a bit,” Shego chuckled lightly, but quickly changed her tone to a more supportive one. “There’s no shame in feeling worried about telling people. You’re still in a somewhat fragile emotional state and I know the last thing you need or want is someone close to you demonizing you for something you did not choose. And while Stevie-boy might have drilled it into your old classmates that boys kiss girls, your mom and dad are a lot more open-minded.”

“How can you possibly be so sure about that?” Kim asked incredulously; somewhat stunned that the green-skinned woman had sounded so certain about that fact.

Even though it was no laughing matter, Shego could not help but chuckle and look pointedly at the hero. “Kimmie, your parents both allowed and supported their fifteen-year-old daughter to jet around the world and stop supervillains and on school nights no less. I’m sure they’ll have open enough minds to accept the fact you’re gay and be supportive of you.”

Even though she had recently discussed with her mom the matter of the woman and her father agreeing to let her carry out her missions and that they had both eventually come around to accept and support that part of her life, at least prior to the issues surrounding her turning pro-hero, Kim had not even contemplated the wider ramifications of it. _Holy cow, I think Shego might be right. Mom and Dad’s minds must surely be open to pretty much anything if they were both able to accept and support me jetting around the world; risking my life to foil supervillains._ However, this notion did not stop her from seeking confirmation, “are you certain? I mean the one time I brought up the subject of homosexuality with my dad, he told me that there would be no kissing girls for me, ever.”

Shego rolled her eyes, “yes, Kimmie, I’m certain. If your folks can handle their teenage daughter fighting supervillains on a school night, they’ll be supportive when you tell them that you’re gay. And as for your dad, didn’t he used to say the same thing to you about boys?” she asked, recalling the hero telling her about her father’s disapproval of her boyfriends when she had been Miss Go.

“He still tries to tell me that there’ll be no dating boys for me until after college,” Kim agreed with a chuckle.

“Exactly. When you spoke to him about homosexuality, he was probably just extending his rules about boys to girls too.” When she had finished making her point, the thought, _when and why did she talk to her dad about homosexuality? s_ truck her. “Obviously you shouldn’t rush into it, but don’t be scared to talk to your parents. I’m sure they’ll be supportive and it will go a long way to making you feel comfortable with who you are.”

 _Wow, now that I think about it, the fact that I’m a lesbian probably pales in comparison to the issue of my hero work._ Kim laughed internally, _heh, despite that, there is no way I can just go over to mom and dad’s place tomorrow and be like, “hey, guess what, I’m gay.” Mom already did too much good detective work in regards to me wanting to be friends with Shego for her not to put two and two together and realise she’s the reason I figured all this out. It then wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for her to start questioning whether or not I was responsible for Shego escaping from jail. Which means that conversation will have to wait for a while yet._

Having now been guided to the epiphany in regards to how her parents would react, Kim felt as though another small portion of the dark mass of problems had been chipped away. And, admittedly, its size had rapidly decreased since the morning after the volcano lair incident. “Thanks,” she said warmly. “I never even thought about it like that.”

“You’d be amazed what perspective both hindsight and being an outsider can provide,” Shego said with a grin. She was about to ask Kimmie another relevant question when the hero asked her something which caught her off guard.

“Were your parents that open when you told them that you are gay, given their children were saving Go city from supervillains?”

Shego immediately felt a flash of anger on hearing the question, though it was not directed towards her rival. To stop herself from biting back with something harsh, which Kimmie did not deserve, given she had only asked a question, she forced herself to take a drink of her Caribou Lou. Swallowing the mouthful of pineapple and coconut flavoured liquid felt like a physical representation of suppressing the burst of anger. “No,” she then replied, her voice deadpan and cold.

“Oh,” Kim replied in slight alarm, having assumed that the green-skinned woman had been talking from experience when it came to how open her parents would be when she told them about her sexuality. However, while fully sober she might have been able to stop herself from asking, “what happened,” she could not do so in her current state of intoxication.

“Like with everything in my life, they tried to force me to be normal,” Shego spat. Even though she had whitewashed over the issue, like Kimmie, she too had said more than she perhaps would have normally. Indeed, she did not stop there. “They’d never managed to grasp the fact that I’d not been normal since I was eight.” The second bolt of anger she felt towards the memory of her parents almost succeeded in igniting her plasma, but she managed to restrain it.

Not really sure what she should say, Kim responded with the only thing she could think of, “I’m sorry, Shego.”

“I don’t want your pity, Princess,” Shego growled and quickly regrated how harsh she had sounded. She stopped to take a breath before saying, “sorry… I’ve not seen my parents in a long time and it’s not a subject I like thinking about. Can we move on?”

Kim recoiled slightly at how harsh her rival had sounded, but the quick apology that followed, combined with the woman’s facial expression told her that it had been a touchy subject and reminded her that Shego was not used to sharing anything from her private life. “Sure, no problem.” She then quickly asked her next question, “any advice for when I try telling people and what do I do if they don’t react well?”

“If they’re intolerant assholes, you tell them to fuck off, as you shouldn’t have to put up with their shit,” Shego replied, her tone laced with venom. She took another breath to calm herself before adding, “look, I don’t have that much experience in telling people I’m a lesbian, owing to the fact I never had many people to tell in the first place. However, I suppose some people aren’t necessarily intolerant, just not used to knowing someone who is gay and so they might need some time to get used to the idea that you’re now a lesbian.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Kim agreed, electing not to comment on the first half of her rival’s suggestion, “especially in a more conservative community like Middleton.” Her mind could not help but think about Ron and how he had reacted when she had told him that Lisa had kissed her. _Will he still react the same way when I eventually tell him the truth?_ It didn’t take her long to reason that Ron being Ron, would probably have a somewhat similar knee-jerk reaction. _Maybe he’ll come around in time. However, I’ve only just recently spoken to him properly for the first time in two years, so I’m not likely going to be telling him anytime soon._ “I suppose I just need to be upfront and open with people. Maybe try and catch them on a good day.”

“Exactly, Princess. Don’t try to sugar coat it or give people the option to go away thinking it’s just a phase or that you’ll straighten yourself out,” Shego said firmly. She then gave Kimmie a reassuring smile. “Being gay is part of who you are, part of who you’ve always been, you just didn’t know it. You should be proud of it and other people have to learn to accept it.”

While she might have eventually started to tell herself that she needed to believe the things the green-skinned woman had just said, to hear someone else say it to her did more for her self-esteem than any amount of internalised pep talks could have. _She’s right. I’m proud of every other aspect of who I am, why shouldn’t I be proud of the fact I’m gay too?_ “You’re right, Shego. Being gay is a fundamental part of who I am… and I’m going to become comfortable with that fact **and** be proud of it.”

“Congratulations, Kimmie, you just said it out loud without hesitation,” Shego said warmly. “And knowing you, it won’t take long for you to get there. After all, you’re the girl who can do anything.”

Feeling grateful for both the help her rival was providing and the genuine words of encouragement contained in the first two things Shego had just said, Kim began to laugh. “Now you are definitely making fun of me,” she said in relation to the, ‘girl who can do anything,’ comment.

“Gee, Princess, you think,” Shego said sarcastically, again feeling the need to remind the hero that her being nice and supportive while she offered advice did not mean she’d gone soft, “what gave it away?”

Kim shook her head as a grin spread across her face. “And just like that, sarcastic Shego is back.”

“She never went away, Pumpkin,” Shego said. Her lips then formed into a wicked smile. “However, I think your progress deserves a reward.”

“What do you mean my progress deserves a reward?” Kim asked, her rival’s expression unnerving her somewhat. “Are you going to buy me dessert or another drink?”

“Oh, we’ll be ordering those in a minute, don’t worry about that, Kimmie,” Shego replied, her smile now containing a dash of evil. “I was thinking something more along the lines of,” like she had done twice before, she arched her back and pushed her breasts out in the hero’s direction.

At the last moment, Kim realised what the green-skinned woman was doing and despite the pull she felt to ogle those sumptuous breasts again, she averted her gaze. “Nice try,” she uttered smugly, “but you won’t catch me out with that one a third time.”

Shego relaxed her body back to its natural position and smirked internally. “Damn, looks like you’ve foiled me once again, Cupcake,” she said with a sigh and waited until the fiery-haired vixen’s eyes were fixed upon her once more. In a flash, her grin became wolf-like and she added, “but are you prepared for this…”

Caught completely off guard, Kim watched as Shego rose to her feet and leaned over the table towards her. Unable to avert her gaze, she quickly found herself staring directly down the green-skinned woman’s cleavage. Her eyes widened, mouth fell open and cheeks exploded in a burst of crimson once more, as she was treated to the sight of Shego’s sumptuous breasts and the top of an emerald satin and black lace bra.

A broad grin spread across Shego’s lips and she could see the colour and feel the heat radiating from the hero’s cheeks. In a seductive tone, she whispered softly in Kimmie’s ear, “try and avoid ogling my breasts this time, Cupcake.”

Gaze transfixed by the sumptuous sight before her, her rival’s words sounded sweet like honey and Kim struggled to resist the urge to raise a hand to touch a romper covered breast. Her cheeks darkened when she realised what she had been thinking. _Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck…_

“Heh, you’re not ready to handle my girls just yet, Cupcake,” Shego whispered in the same seductive tone. “However, as a baby gay, you might just be able to handle this without going into meltdown.” Puckering her lips, she planted a light kiss on the hero’s cheek and then withdrew back to her side of the table and sat down.

Kim’s mind went into a whirling frenzy the moment she felt the soft touch of Shego’s lips against her cheek. _Holy crap, she just kissed me… again!_ Naturally, her breathing became erratic and her heart rate shot up. _And I wanted to touch her breasts!_ Things only worsened when she once again realised that, _at some point in the future, I **will** touch her breasts. Oh shit, what have I agreed to?_

Shego sat and savoured the sweet fruits of her labour. _Heh, oh she is going to be delicious to play with and tease when we eventually start getting physical._

From the outside of the booth, a voice cut through the bubble of sexual tension and said, “have you finished with your meals?”

Kim, whose mind had ground to a halt the moment her eyes had caught sight of her rival’s breasts, heard the woman speak and snapped back to reality. _Oh crap, did she see Shego give me that kiss?_ Alas, she had been too preoccupied to notice where the woman had come from. “Umm… yeah,” she replied stuttered, given they had both finished several minutes ago.

“Can we order some dessert and get some more drinks?” Shego then asked, deciding they might as well get some benefit out of the unwanted interruption.

“Sure thing,” the waitress replied. “What can I get for you?”

“I’ll have a piece of hot chocolate fudge cake, with ice cream and,” Shego grinned at Kimmie when she added, “a sex on the beach.”

Feeling somewhat embarrassed by the look her rival had just given her, Kim accidentally said, “what’s sex on the beach?” instead of, ‘what’s **in a** sex on the beach’. She knew it was a cocktail, having seen it on a menu several times, but couldn’t remember what was in it, owing to the fact she’d never ordered one. 

Shego’s grin only widened when she heard Kimmie’s question. “It’s when two people have sex on a beach, Kimmie,” she answered. “Why don’t you try it?”

Cheeks burning once more, Kim knew that another gauntlet had just been tossed at her feet. However, she was not the only one blushing, for the waitress too had gone red. Taking a breath, she quickly forced herself to regain her composure. “I meant what’s **in** it.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “Never mind, I’ll find out when I drink it. Make that two hot chocolate fudge cakes, with ice cream and,” she locked gazes with those piercing emerald eyes, “two sexes on the beach.”

As the blonde-haired woman quickly gathered up their plates; dropping the cutlery in her haste, Shego said, “I hope there are not two sexes on the beach, Kimmie, as I only want one.”

When the waitress hurriedly scurried away, the hero and villain exchanged glances and then burst out laughing.

“She totally saw down your romper on her way over!” Kim exclaimed; her moment of embarrassment forgotten about.

“She totally saw my tits,” Shego added, the wicked smile returning to her lips, “as did you. Want to see them again?”

Just like that, the embarrassment of having ogled the green-skinned woman’s bra covered breasts crashed back down atop Kim. “Will you stop doing something that shows off your breasts!” she said hotly; a repeat of her remark from earlier. However, with the extra alcohol in her system, she could not stop herself from going a step further, “how would you like it if I lifted my pullover and showed you my breasts!”

The widest grin imaginable covered Shego’s face as she said, “I’d enjoy that quite a lot, Kimmie. So, go ahead.”

The moment the words had spilt out of her mouth, Kim knew she had made a mistake and so could only sit and take her rival’s comment. Only that did not stop her from becoming more indignant. “No!” she exclaimed in outrage and through gritted teeth added, “I’m not about to flash my breasts in public, just so you can ogle them!”

“So, you’d happily do it in private?” Shego poked, her voice laden with sass.

“ARGH!” Kim practically yelled as she threw her hands into the air.

“Now, now, Kimmie, contain yourself. You’ve still got dessert and some more questions to get through before we are done here.”

A scowl formed on the hero’s face. “When we get to the Middleton High playing fields, you are so going down.”

“Care to put a wager on that?” Shego replied.

 _Shit!_ Kim cursed internally. _I know exactly what she’s going to ask for if she wins, but I can’t turn down the challenge._ A look of worry began to spread across her face, as her mind frantically tried to find some way out of the situation short of having to win the inevitable fight, which would not be a certainty in a scenario where there was no Dr Drakken for her to stop.

On seeing the apprehension deepen on her rival’s face, Shego knew she had to put a pin in her own suggestion, which she had intended to do anyway. “I know what you’re thinking, Kimmie and I’m not going to coerce you into making a bet that you’ll be uncomfortable with. Remember, I already promised I wouldn’t force you into something you’re not ready for.”

Relief washed over Kim as she listened to the green-skinned woman’s words and she recalled that had been one of her own stipulations. “Thank you,” she breathed, feeling the tension that had mounted start to ebb. “Can we go back to my questions now?”

“Sure thing,” Shego said. “However, I’ve got one I want to ask first; why did you fight so hard against the truth that you are a lesbian?”

A sense of unease suddenly started to grip at Kim and she involuntarily bit her lip. “Why are you interested in that?” she asked, unable to quash the apprehension in her voice.

For the first time that evening, Shego sensed a genuine resistance from the hero to answer. _Why does she want to avoid telling me that? Hmm, there must be something there that she probably needs to get off her chest, but is reluctant to say._ Knowing that it would probably be in Kimmie’s best interests to talk, even if the hero did not wish to do so, she decided to gently press her on the matter. “Often the reasons why someone refuses to admit that they are gay can be the same ones that hamper them from becoming comfortable with their new identity. And talking about them is the best way to deal with them,” she said matter-of-factly. “You said you wanted to talk; I’m willing to listen.”

As Shego spoke, the memories from five years ago; the ones she’d suffered through the night she’d first admitted she liked girls, raced through Kim’s mind. While she’d already briefly mentioned the conversation with her dad and her rival seemed to have the measure of Mr Barkin, the rest of the events surrounding Lisa proved to be a sticking point. _While I want to talk about all of this, what if she judges me for what I did to Lisa. After all, she clearly doesn’t tolerate homophobes and what I did back then was effectively homophobic? Oh God, what if she hates me because of it and tells me to fuck off? I could lose her as a frenemy on day one. But on the other hand, she’s right; I do need to get this off my chest… what do I do?_

In the silence that followed her own words, Shego studied Kimmie’s facial expression and could she how increasingly torn the girl had become. _Shit, whatever it is, it’s not simply that Stevie-boy and her dad told her she should be straight._ Had it been any other subject, she knew she would have been interested to find out, so that she could unleash a bucketload of sass and sarcasm upon the hero because of it. So, it would have come as no surprise to Shego, if Kimmie had forgotten the immunity the current topic of discussion held. Which prompted her to remind her. “I’m not going to make fun of you over it,” she said, her tone warm and encouraging. _Fuck, if I keep this up, I might as well find that stupid teal headband and go back to Middleton High for the new school year starting._

 _But will you judge me, tell me I’m a horrible person and to fuck off?_ Kim met her rivals gaze as she sucked at the dregs of her mojito through the straw. A hollow laugh echoed around inside her head, _heh, I guess it’s ironic that it comes down to how much I trust her, which a few weeks ago would have been not in the slightest._ Hesitantly she lowered her glass and said, “do you promise not to judge or condemn me?”

“Condemn you? Why on earth would I condemn you?” Shego asked quickly. _Now I’m really interested in what she has to say._ Then, in an attempt to dissuade the hero from changing her mind added, “I promise I won’t to do either.”

Kim bit her lip again as she sucked in a slow breath. _I guess I’m doing this then… I just hope I don’t regret it._ “Because I did something bad, something… unforgivable,” her gaze automatically lowered to the point that she now stared at her lap. “You have to understand, I was only fifteen and stupid and more concerned about what everyone else would think about me.” Kim paused for a moment, unsure of where exactly to begin. Eventually, she continued, “back in the volcano lair, I lied to you.”

“Lied to me about what?” Shego inquired. _Damn, I didn’t think she’d tell me… granted she might still change her mind._

“About having never kissed a girl before,” Kim had to force herself to say. “I didn’t know I was lying to you, as I’d suppressed the memory of it, but I did.”

 _Ok, so she kissed a girl before me… interesting._ “Who was it and what happened?” Shego encouraged.

“My former best girl; Lisa,” Kim replied, the name feeling like acid on her tongue. “It happened towards the end of our freshman year in high school. Everything had been going great for me in the months leading up to it. I got rid of my braces, had been made captain of the cheer squad, met Wade and had just started taking on some more dangerous missions.” She paused for breath, her eyes studying Shego’s expression, which remained neutral. “After cheer practice one evening, we were sat on the bleachers; talking. Something about her had been off that week, but I’d only just found time to sit and talk to her. Long story short, she tried to tell me that she liked me, but I was too dense to even figure out that she wasn’t talking about a boy.”

Even though she had promised she wouldn’t, Shego couldn’t help but let out a light laugh. “You and probably every other high school kid who's found themselves in that position. I take it the only way she could get through that thick skull of yours was by kissing you.”

“Yes,” Kim replied, the apprehension slowly increasing. “She caught me completely by surprise, but I managed to feel a tiny spark all the same, even though we were quickly interrupted by Mr Barkin.”

“Ah,” Shego said, her mind already having conjured up a rough idea of what happened next. “Let me guess, both of you got marched into his office and read the boys kiss girls act.”

“Something like that,” Kim said glumly, feeling the first drops of guilt fall upon her, “he made me feel like what we had just done was so wrong…”

“But you now know it’s not,” Shego said warmly but firmly. “Being gay is perfectly natural.”

“I know that now,” Kim rubbed her upper left arm awkwardly. “Lisa knew it back then because her parents had told her so,” she continued said slowly, “and she decided to stand up to Mr Barkin.”

“All power too her! However, I bet that didn’t go down well with Stevie-boy.”

“It didn’t. She stood there in his office and told him point-blank that it was perfectly natural for girls to kiss one another and that if we wanted to do so, he couldn’t stop us.”

Having worked in the school system, albeit briefly, Shego did not need Kim to continue to know what had happened next. “That’s when he pulled out the, ‘I’ll call your parents,’ card, isn’t it?”

Kim nodded, “yeah and unlike Lisa, I folded.” As she spoke, she felt a flash of anger towards herself for not having not had the strength of her former best girl. Her fist balled and she slammed it down atop the padded seat of the booth. “I should have stood up to him too!”

The anger in her rival’s tone was clear as day and Shego just knew that the story did not end here. “Anyone in your position would have done the exact same,” she said in a calming voice. “You’d literally only just had the concept of homosexuality thrust upon you with your first lesbian kiss and it’s unsurprising that it terrified you and resulted in you pow-wowing to what the ‘responsible’ adult told you was correct.”

While the green-skinned woman’s words did not absolve her of the guilt she felt, they at least served to calm Kim down slightly. At least in this instance, looking at it objectively, she knew Shego was right. She had been so scared and confused about what happened that her reaction at that point in time had been more than understandable. “It didn’t end there,” she breathed, finding it difficult to continue for fear of how her rival might react once she had heard the full story.

“It never does,” Shego said. “I assume the conversation you had with your dad about homosexuality occurred that night?”

“Yeah,” Kim nodded. “Normally, I would have spoken to mom about this sort of thing, but she had to work late that night and I needed to talk to someone. Again, long story short, dad told me that Middleton is a conservative community and that I’d find Mr Barkin’s viewpoint prevalent throughout... and that there would be no kissing girls for me, ever.”

“Keep going, Kimmie,” Shego encouraged, sensing that the fiery-haired vixen could decide to stop at any moment, “what happened next?”

“Next day, because of an ‘incident’ that had occurred, Mr Barkin forced us all to sit through a two-hour presentation about how boys like girls, boys kiss girls and boys mate with girls,” Kim replied. “Naturally, everyone quickly figured out that two boys or girls had been caught kissing one another. I’d avoided Lisa all day and after school finished, I escaped to Bueno Nacho with Ron.”

Shego sighed long-sufferingly, “I might have known the buffoon would crop up somewhere in this story. Continue.”

“Ron wouldn’t stop complaining about Mr Barkin forcing us to sit through that lecture and I needed to talk to someone else about it…”

“Please tell me you didn’t…”

“…I started to tell him that it had been Lisa and me who had been caught kissing, but before I even mentioned myself, he yelled about Lisa being the one responsible for him having to sit through Barkin’s lecture…”

“…and someone overheard him and by homeroom next morning, the entire school knew that Lisa was a lesbian and she became a target for every homophobic asshole in the joint,” Shego finished, effortlessly putting two and two together and coming up with four. She shook her head in dismay, “oh, Kimmie, how could you have been so stupid?”

It was not anger Kim heard in Shego’s voice, rather disappointment and somehow that felt so much worse. “I didn’t mean to do it,” she replied, feeling the corners of her eyes begin to prick, “it just happened.”

“I know you didn’t mean to do it, but you should have known your own friend better than that.”

Kim lowered her head again. “It gets worse… much worse.”

“Worse?” Shego inquired, however, her brain had already started to formulate the only logical conclusion to the story that would result in Kimmie feeling so cut up about it. _Oh, Cupcake, please tell me you didn’t…_

“Lisa suffered nothing but abuse for an entire week and I was both too scared to talk to her or stand up for her. However, it all came to a head at the end of the week…” Kim had to choke back a tear so that she could finish, “…at cheer practice that Friday, the entire squad told me they would walk if I didn’t kick Lisa out… and for my own stupid; selfish reasons, I did it… I betrayed my best girl and all because she was gay…” Kim did not wait for a response. With the tears now running down her cheeks, she hurriedly climbed out of the booth and ran for the restroom.

 _Shit…_ Shego thought, as she watched Kimmie flee to the safety of the restroom. _No wonder she had such difficulty in accepting that she’s a lesbian if she’s been carrying the memory of that around with her. And the guilt she still feels about it is definitely getting in the way of her feeling comfortable with her sexuality._ She sighed to herself. While it had been an exceptionally horrible thing for the hero to have done, Shego knew it was not her place to condemn her for it. _Yet she thinks I’ll do just that, like I’m the gay police or something like that. Guess I’m going to have to move quickly to put that particular fire out. However, knowing Kimmie, nothing I say is going to set her mind at ease over this matter…_

Their drinks and dessert had only just arrived when Kim finally returned to the table; having watched the waitress set them down on her way back from the restroom. “I’m sorry about that,” she said apprehensively when she slid back into the empty booth once more.

“Don’t worry about it,” Shego replied quickly and indicated the glass of red/orange liquid that sat in front of the hero, “drink. It’ll help.”

Kim gladly did as instructed, picked up the beverage and took a sip. The taste of peach and cranberries lit up her tongue, through which she could taste something that reminded her of the vodka martini. “I’m sorry for…” she began after she had swallowed the mouthful, but found herself cut off.

“I’m not going to say what you did is ok, Kimmie, because it’s not,” Shego began, meeting her rival’s gaze. “But as you pointed out, you were fifteen and stupid and we all make mistakes, especially at that age. So, I’m not going to condemn you for something you did back in high school and before you try to do it again, I’m not the person you need to apologise to.”

It was a strange mix of relief and dismay that washed over Kim, as she listened to her rival talk. Relief that having told Shego had not laid waste to their newly forged relationship, but dismay that she had not found absolution for her sin. _Unfortunately, she’s right; she’s not the person to whom I owe an apology… but I can’t face Lisa after all these years, not after what I did to her. It would be unfair for me to show up on her doorstep and ask for her forgiveness after all this time. Besides, I don’t even know where she lives._ That last point she knew was moot, for she could easily find out via Wade. However, she chose to brush that fact under the rug. “Thanks for not demonizing me,” she finally replied and took another drink.

“I was never going to demonize you, Kimmie,” Shego said and gave her rival a warm smile, “we might be on different sides of the hero/villain coin, but you’re part of the LGBT community now and for the most part, we look out for one another. Now, let’s eat dessert before the fudge cake gets cold and the ice cream melts.”

Kim nodded in agreement and picked up her spoon.

They ate dessert and drank their sex on the beach’s in another comfortable silence. By the time they had finished and the waitress left with their empty plates, glasses and an order for another two Long Island iced teas, both hero and villain had reached that happy stage of drunkenness where mildly amusing things were now rip-roaringly funny. When the drinks finally arrived, they resumed the conversation.

“So, where do I look for a girlfriend?” Kim asked, now once more at ease.

“Right in front of you, Princess,” Shego said with a wide grin.

Kim had lost count of the number of times her cheeks had burned red that night. “I thought you said we wouldn’t be in a relationship?” she stammered, feeling most unsure precisely how she felt about that point at present, although that could almost certainly be put down to the alcohol in her system.

“I did say that, didn’t I,” Shego mused, the booze causing her to question if that had been the right call or not too. “But it was worth it to see your face,” she then laughed.

“It wasn’t funny,” Kim pouted with a huff. “And you didn’t answer my question.”

“Fine,” Shego said in an over-exaggerated manner, “if you’re going to be such a baby about it, you’ll find plenty of single ladies in bars all across Middleton, or anywhere else for that matter. However…”

“That’s not much use!” Kim said and took a long drink of her latest cocktail. “Most of them will all be like, ‘I like boys,’ and I’ll probably get a drink chucked in my face for trying to ask them out.”

“If you’d let me finish,” Shego said with another roll of her eyes, “I was going to say, your chances of finding the one lesbian needle amidst the haystack of straight girls are not that great;” admittedly, the metaphor had sounded better in her head. “And you’re not likely to get a drink chucked in your face unless you find yourself trying to flirt with a hyper-alert, homophobic asshole, but I’ll get to that in a bit.”

“So where do I go to find the lesbian needles?” Kim asked, somehow having managed to both understand her rival’s drunken metaphor yet fail to decipher it.

“You want to go to either an LGBT bar or one specific to lesbians,” Shego answered.

“Oooh, can we go there now!” Kim exclaimed, her eyes turning wide.

“No, no, no,” Shego said quickly. “You're nowhere near ready for that. Besides, there isn’t one in Middleton. However, there are a few down in Lowerton, which I’ll take you to once you’re feeling a lot more comfortable.”

Kim pouted again, “aww phooey.”

Shego sipped her cocktail. “Trust me, sober Kimmie will thank me for it.”

“Fine, but you have to tell me why I won’t get a drink chucked in my face.” 

Shego smiled at Kimmie. “Because most girls can be so open and touchy-feely with one another, especially when drunk, that you can pretty much go up to one, say something like, ‘hey, I love your ass, sit on my face,’ and they’d probably still not realise you were coming on to them.”

Kim burst out into an uncontrollable fit of hysterics. “No way, seriously?” she finally managed to say, before dissolving into another bout of laughter. Her words perhaps testament to the fact she’d not spent much time in the company of other women for a good while.

“Yeah, totally,” Shego replied, Kimmie’s laughter becoming infectious. “Seriously, that’s another reason to avoid trying to pick up a girl in a bar like Spritzers. You can flirt with them all you want and even when you’re certain they’re on the same page as you, they can still turn around and say to you, ‘I like boys’.”

Kim and Shego’s gazes met and there has a heartbeat of silence between them before they both burst out laughing.

“Ok, I totally deserved that one!” Kim said and then promptly did an impersonation of herself, “sorry, Shego, even though I’ve been flirting with you all night and it is clear to you that I’m a lesbian, I like boys!”

The pair couldn’t contain themselves and had it not been for the fact they were within the relative confines of the booth, both women would have been rolling around the floor.

“Kimmie,” Shego then said, trying her best to keep a straight face, “don’t make me kiss you on the cheek and head off to the bathroom again…”

“Maybe you should,” Kim cut in, a wide grin spread across her face. “And maybe when you come back, this time I’ll like girls.” She then turned her cheek to her rival.

Shego watched as Kimmie presented her left cheek to her and found that despite the fact she’d promised to take things slowly, especially the physical stuff, that she could not resist the opportunity. Reaching out over the table, she planted her puckered lips onto the hero’s soft skin and kissed her again.

From that simple act, a small fire, akin to that they had both felt inside the volcano lair lit up inside Kim and Shego and when the latter withdrew, they turned to stare at one another.

Her discomfort and any potential nerves having been drowned by the alcohol, the hero took a sip of her Long Island iced tea and then asked, “would you kiss me again?” there was a moment’s pause, the only hesitation she showed, before she added, “on the lips this time.”

A wicked smile formed on the villain’s face. “That’s not how it works, Princess. You have to buy the girl a drink then dance with her, before you get to kiss her.”

“Aww, but we’re drunk!” Kim moaned, far too loudly.

“Don’t tell me the famous world hero is going to let a little thing like some alcohol stop her from dancing,” Shego sniggered. “I’m game if you are, Cupcake.”

Kim tried to think this through logically, found her brain far too foggy and so did the only other thing she could; asked someone. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? We’ve had like so many cocktails.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s totally a good idea,” Shego replied, eagerly, her sense of reason too having deserted her in favour of drunken merriment. “If you win, I’ll kiss you,” she then teased.

The hero thought about this for a brief moment, although the term thought should probably be used in the loosest sense possible. “And what if you win?”

“Then you kiss me,” the green-skinned woman said swiftly.

“Ooooh, I like those odds,” Kim giggled. “Ok, you’re on!”

Shego picked up her glass and indicated for her rival to do the same. “The looser kisses the winner,” she said.

“The looser kisses the winner,” Kim agreed and they rather unsubtly clinked their glasses together; sloshing Long Island iced tea all over the table. She then grinned, “bet I can finish mine before you can yours.”

“Not a chance, Princess,” Shego replied and raised her glass to her lips. “Ready?”

“On three. One… three…”

Both women began downing their drinks before either of them realised that Kim had missed out two. Long Island iced tea dribbling down their chins, the pair raced each other to the bottom of their glasses. Owing purely to the fact that she’d had less to drink, Kim emerged the victor.

“FINISHED!” the hero declared and slammed her glass down far too hard on the table, almost breaking it. “Now you have to kiss me.”

Shego spluttered the word, “what,” through the last mouthful of her drink.

While her rival’s word had been completely unintelligible, Kim somehow understood her. “You lost, so you have to kiss me.”

“What?” Shego asked again, once she had cleared her throat. “It’s the loser of the fight who has to kiss the winner, or are you too drunk to remember what happened two seconds ago?”

“But that’s not what you said,” Kim replied with a sly grin. “You simply said that the looser kisses the winner. You lost, so now you have to kiss me.”

Given that she had no objections to kissing her rival, Shego burst out laughing. “Well done, Kimmie, very sneaky of you! I approve. Just for that, I’m going to give you that kiss.”

Excitedly, Kim leaned out across the table and puckered her lips.

True to her word, Shego reached out and at the last moment, flashed Kimmie a grin, before giving her the shortest and lightest possible peck imaginable.

“Hey!” Kim exclaimed in infuriation. “That’s not a kiss!”

“It is to, Princess,” Shego replied, still grinning, “you simply failed to stipulate what sort of kiss I had to give you.”

“That was mean,” Kim pouted. “Fine, when I kick your butt, you have to give me a proper kiss, thirty seconds minimum, with tongue.”

“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?” Shego laughed, recalling the hero’s stipulation being the one she herself had made back in the volcano lair.

Kim stuck her tongue out at the villain and made a childish noise. She then sprang to her feet and almost fell over, just managing to catch herself by grabbing the table. “Let’s go dancing!”

Having just watched her rival almost fall over, Shego chose to rise more slowly.

Staggering slightly, the pair made their way to the bar, paid for their food and drinks and headed for the exit, giggling all the way. They’d agreed to the meeting on the grounds that it would simply be drinks and conversation, both arrived looking for something more, almost blown the entire evening from almost the off, yet against the odds, found a way to compromise. Resulting in them them leaving the bar as frenemies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I don't know about all of you, but boy did I enjoy that chapter... a lot. 
> 
> If you had said to me before I started the last update that this one scene in Spritzers was going to span two chapters and over 30K words, I would have laughed and said it would be lucky to reach 15K. However, that's exactly where we ended up, with this second chapter breaking both the record chapter length for this fic and for a single scene that I've written. Taking them both together, these two chapters almost feel like the one-shot that I initially set out to write at the very beginning, but realised I couldn't write, due to woefully underestimating the complexity of both characters and their relationship. I just never thought it would take me nearly 400K words to get to this point, lol!
> 
> So, where do we go from here? Short answer, I have absolutely no clue, lol. With all the twists and turns Kim and Shego keep throwing my way whenever I write them together, I don't even want to guess what is going to happen between them now we've reached this key point in their relationship. I have a rough plan for where the overarching story might go, but as always, that can get thrown out the window at any given moment by something either of them says or does. The only thing I can say is that we will continue to see them together a lot more. And that I am really looking forward to seeing what happens to them next. 
> 
> Thank you all once again for your continued support and I hope the wait (and the anguish of the last update) has been worth it in the end. Please do let me know what you think of this one, as I always love reading your comments. 
> 
> Warmest regards  
> Niaxi


End file.
